59 



HE STATUE 



f^. HEWITT 



OF eOMMERCE 



S BTEWAHT SMITH 



f'< ^-'^ ^>r ^^e "^K - 





UNVEILING OF THE STATUE 

or 

ABRAM S. HEWITT 

IN THB 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

OF THB 

STATE OF NEW-YORK, 

MAY 11th, 190S. 

ADDRESS BY CHARLES STEWART SMITH. 



NEW-TORK : 
PRESS OP THB CHAMBER OP COMMERCE. 

1905. 



'Exc'Ldiiiiii} 
K. Y. Pub. Lib. 
12 Je '09 



4-1 



ADDRESS. 



This impressive statue of our late member, Abram S. 
Hewitt, now unveiled, tlie work of William Couper, is 
worthy of the Chamber and the man. To those of us who 
have known Mr. Hewitt it will be a reminder of a great 
character : to our successors it will remain an inspiration 
for noble and unselfish lives. 

Abram Stevens Hewitt was born in Haverstraw, N. Y., 
on July 31, 1822, and died in the City of New- York, Janu- 
ary 18th, 1903. Mr. Hewitt wrote concerning his ances- 
tors : "My father was an Englishman, born at Penkridge 
in Staffordshire. His name was John and his father's 
name was Thomas. The latter was born in Knutsford, 
which is on the border of Cheshire, perhaps over the line. 
They appear to have been of the class known as yeomen, 
and to have resided at or near Knutsford for several gener- 
ations, earning an honest living by hard labor. No other 
member of my father's family ever came to America, and, 
so far as I know, all his relatives in England have died 
without leaving any successors." John Hewitt came to 
this country in 1790, at the age of eighteen, commissioned 
by an English firm to erect the first stationary steam 
engine in the United States, at Soho, New- Jersey. He 
subsequently established in New- York a well known repu- 
tation for making artistic furniture, and held a certificate 



himself as a master- workman. A tire destroyed his house 
and works by which he lost a fortune, considerable for the 
time. He then retired to a farm in Kockland County, 
and at the time of the birth of the subject of this sketch 
he was comparatively poor. 

On the maternal side the blood was Huguenot. The 
mother of Abeam S. Hewitt was a descendant of the old 
and distinguished Garniee family, a member of which, a 
youth of about sixteen or seventeen, fled from Rochelle, 
France, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 
1685, and emigrating to this country, settled on the farm 
near Haverstraw in this State, which became the family 
home, and so remained for five generations. A part of 
this estate, is in possession of the family, and the log 
house in which Mr. Hewitt was born is still standing, 
and there he spent his early childhood assisting in farm 
work, and forming a taste for rural life which he after- 
wards developed in his fine domain of Ringwood, N. J. 

"Providence, (says Renan,) when it designs a man 
for important service, subjects him to early discipline and 
rigid trials, and the boy is the promise of the man." In 
order to show character, youthful tendencies, familiar 
sayings, trifling anecdotes are not insignificant. Mr. 
Hewitt's youthful struggles were the prophecy of his 
stout and resolute manhood. 

At the early age of seven years he entered a public 
school in the country and afterwards in this City. 

"When only thirteen years old, (I quote his own words,) 
I read to Mr. Goodhue four to five hours daily for six 
months. Amongst other works I remember reading Gib- 
bons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Plutaech's 
Lives and Russell's History of Modern Europe." Mr. 



Hewitt attributed much of his success in after life to the 
solid foundation laid by this serious reading. "He re- 
ceived for this service from Mr. Goodhue fifteen dollars ; 
(his first earnings ;) of this amount twelve and a half 
dollars was in gold, and the balance five silver half dollars, 
which latter he gave to his mother, who kept them until 
her death. 'Twelve and a half dollars he spent later in 
buying his silk college gown.' " 

After finishing his preliminary education, standing at 
the head of his class, he was prepared for college at Dr. 
Anthon's well known grammar school, and then secured, 
after public competition, one of the two prizes for free 
scholarship offered for the first time by Columbia College, 
where he graduated first in the class of 1842. He took the 
four gold medals for the four successive years, a unique 
feat in college life, and delivered the Latin Oration at the 
Commencement Exercises. During his college course he 
supported himself as tutor ; among his pupils was the son 
of Albert Gallatin, whom he instructed in the higher 
mathematics to the great satisfaction of the father, who 
became Mr. Hewitt's firm friend. Mr. Hewitt also 
prepared his own younger brother for a college course. 
He recognized his obligation to Columbia by founding 
two free scholarships and received the degree of LL. D. 
from that University. In after life Mr. Hewitt told a 
friend, "^-ot one dollar of burden did my education 
impose upon my parents, who, anxious as they were to give 
me an education, were too poor to do so." He began the 
study of law, and, while still an acting professor of math- 
ematics in Columbia College, was admitted to the New- 
York bar in 1845. He afterward relinquished this profes- 
sion in consequence of impaired health and defective 



6 

eyesight occasioned by his hard work in school and college 
days. 

He made his first visit to Europe in 1843, and spent the 
first thousand dollars of his savings for this purpose. He 
was accompanied by his life-long friend and classmate, 
Edward Cooper, afterwards Mayor of New- York City. 

Upon their return voyage in 1844 they were shipwrecked 
and barely escaped death. They were rescued after many 
hours of exposure in a frail boat on the North Atlantic 
during a dark winter's night. Mr. Hewitt said upon the 
occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of their rescue : "That 
he felt that Providence preserved his life for a purpose, 
and at that time he resolved to dedicate himself to work 
for the benefit of his fellow beings." 

Shortly after giving up his legal profession the firm of 
Cooper, Hetvitt & Co. was formed, which existed for 
more than half a century, and until Mr. Hewitt's death. 
Peter Cooper, whose only daughter Mr, Hewitt mar- 
ried, turned over the Trenton Iron Works to the care of 
the new firm, which became a pioneer in the United States 
in the iron and steel business, and managed its affairs with 
conspicuous ability. Cooper, Hewitt & Co. never had 
a strike ; they never entirely stopped their works, and 
frequently ran them at large loss amounting in the aggre- 
gate to five hundred thousand dollars rather than cause 
distress among their work people. On the occasion of a 
threatened strike in the Trenton Iron Works, in conse^ 
quence of a proposed reduction in wages, Mr. Hewitt in- 
vited a committee of operatives to examine the books of the 
Company. As a result the works were found to be run- 
ning at a loss, and the reduction was accepted without a 
murmur. 



Mr. Hewitt was almost from his boyhood an advocate 
and promoter of technical education for wage-earners. He 
visited the trade and technical schools of Europe, and 
studied their organization in England, France and Ger- 
many. His meeting with Peter Cooper, which he has 
somewhere described as accidental, was fortunate. He 
was the efficient collaborator of Mr. Cooper in founding 
Cooper Union, the corner-stone of which was laid in May, 
1864, and was up to the time of his death its practical 
superintendent. He drew the charter, constitution and 
by-laws of the Cooper Union under the advisement of 
Peter Cooper. This grand institution has furnished 
absolutely free education, by means of day and night 
schools, to thousands of young men and women, which 
enabled them to become skilled workers in the scientific 
and decorative branches of industrial arts, in mathematics 
architecture, chemistry, civics, physics, ethics, etc., etc' 
The system of free lectures in the Cooper Union which 
was originated by Mr. Hewitt, became a most v'aluable 
adjunct to its educational work. Peter Cooper said that 
''instruction in the Cooper Union must be as free as 
light and air." Mr. Hewitt described the purpose of the 
Union to be " to teach the scientific principles which 
underlie the arts of the country." 

When the means of the Union were wanting to pay 
competent teachers and furnish apparatus in the various 
branches, Mr. Hewitt's purse and that of his family 
supplied the deficiency. The grandchildren of Peter 
Cooper gave up their inheritance from the grandfather's 
estate to assist in its maintenance and final endowment • 
Mr. Hewitt's daughters established a Museum for the 
Arts of Decoration, to which they gave years of de- 



8 

voted and intelligent work. When the Museum was 
projected he gave to this object its first start by presenting 
the entire collection of French casts, which formed its 
nucleus. The Cooper and Hewitt families have con- 
tributed to the funds of the Union since its foundation a 
total of more than $1,500,000, to which Mr. Carnegie 
added $600,000, and an unknown donor $250,000, making 
the existing endowment, in addition to the building and 
its contents, $2,730,488.57, yielding a net annual revenue, 
exclusive of the rents of the great hall, of $125,000. The 
children of William Cooper, younger brother of the 
founder, were among the first to give large sums, amount- 
ing to three hundred and forty thousand dollars, to the 
Cooper Union, and it was their gifts which enabled the 
Trustees to free the building of tenants and to use the 
space thus added for class rooms. 

As a student of history, Mr. Hewitt appreciated the 
ripe experience and accumulated culture of the past, he 
was, however, above and beyond all other considerations a 
patriotic American citizen in every fiber of his being. 
During the storm and stress of our Civil War, in 1862, he 
was sent by the War Department on a confidential mission 
to England and France to confer with Ministers Adams 
and Dayton, then accredited to those governments, and to 
purchase ordnance supplies for the United States. 

Mr. Hewitt's international reputation as a learned and 
scientific student of iron and steel production is well rec- 
ognized in the interesting address of Sir James Kitson, 
President of the Iron and Steel Institute of England, on 
the occasion of the presentation to Mr. Hewitt of the 
Bessemer Gold Medal in September, 1890. Sir James 
KiTSON, on his recent visit to New- York, spoke to the 



speaker of his strong personal regard for Mr. Hewitt, and 
of the obligation the steel institutes of both countries were 
under to him. 

The effort to find an enduring and satisfactory bond of 
nnion between capital and labor has thus far utterly failed 
both in the United States and Europe. It is to-day the 
most important and far reaching question that confronts 
the world's moral, material and industrial welfare Its 
solution demands the best thought of the statesman and 
the patriot. Mr. Hewitt, in an address as President of 
the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1890, laid 
down principles and made suggestions which, if carried out 
m good faith, would go far towards solving this vital 
problem. They are worth recalling. They express to-day 
the last word upon this issue which was never more men- 
acing to public prosperity than at present. He said : 

" Under the modern system of industry, commercial 
operations are conducted on a scale of such magnitude as 
to require the association of capital in corporate organiza- 
tions which have almost entirely superseded private Arms 
and ordinary partnerships. 

" As a rule the workmen have formed unions for the 
care of their interests, and especially to secure a satisfac- 
tory rate of wages. The formation of such unions is alike 
a right and a duty ; and so long as they confine themselves 
to the assertion of the rights and the protection of the in- 
terests of their members they are to be commended and 
encouraged. The employers, on the other hand, have also 
various associations for the promotion of their own com 
mercial interests. 

" Meanwhile, the severity of the straggle may be greatly 



10 

mitigated and the final outcome accelerated if certain fun- 
damental principles which have been established by the 
experience of mankind are kept steadily in view and 
rigorously applied as each new complication shall arise. 
While the propositions which I shall state may be disputed 
by extremists, I think they will be generally regarded as 
axioms ingrained in the very constitution of human nature, 
and, therefore, to be accepted as standards of right and 
wrong to which all contentions may be referred. 

" I. Individual liberty consists in the right of each per- 
son to control his own life and to use the products of his 
labor in his own way, so long as he does not interfere with 
the equal rights of any other person. 

'* II. Individual liberty implies the right of two or more 
persons to combine together and to use their property and 
faculties as they may see tit, so long as they do not inter- 
fere with the equal rights of other individuals or combina- 
tions of individuals. 

" III. As population grows there will necessarily be 
interferences among individuals and combinations of indi- 
viduals which must be adjusted ; and hence the necessity 
for government and for tribunals whose judgment must be 
final. 

'' IV. In countries where law expresses the will of the 
majority, and in which it can be amended as often as the 
majority may desire, there is no justification for resort to 
private or personal force in order to rectify wrongs, correct 
abuses and maintain the rights of men. If the courts of 
justice have not adequate jurisdiction, it is the duty of the 
Legislature, which represents the public will, to supply it,. 



11 

and all agitation should be directed to secure such legisla- 
tion ; and no man or set of men should be allowed to take 
the law into their own hands, to usurp the functions of the 
courts of justice, or to forestall the action of the Legis- 
lature. 

" Bearing these axioms in mind, the following conclu- 
sions may be submitted as incontrovertible : 

"1. It is the equal right of employers and employees to 
make combinations among themselves respectively, or with 
each other to advance or reduce wages, or to establish or 
resist legislation which either or both may regard as essen- 
tial, desirable or objectionable. 

" 2. Neither party has the right to coerce the other into 
submission, except through the action of the courts or 
tribunals duly constituted to hear and decide upon causes 
of action submitted to them by either or both parties. 

"3. The right of workmen to refrain from labor and the 
right of the employer to cease to employ are correlative 
rights; but no one has the right to compel any other 
workman to cease from labor, nor has the emjployer any 
right to lock out his workmen in order to compel submis- 
sion to obnoxious rules. 

" 4. Strikes and lockouts are, therefore, equally inde- 
fensible on the ground of justice, and can only be tolerated 
in the absence of provisions for the submission of griev- 
ances to the adjudication of competent tribunals. 

" 5. No man has the right to compel another man to 
combine with him in any organization, and when a man 



12 

declines to combine it is a violation of right to refuse to 
work with him and to deny him the means of earning a 
living. It is equally wrong for employers to blacklist 
men, so that others will not give them employment. 

"6. A boycott cannot be defended under any circum- 
stances whatever. It is in effect a declaration of private 
war, which is a crime of the Hatfield-McCoy class, to be 
stamped out by prompt and severe punishment. 

" 7. The claim of any body of men, that under any cir- 
cumstances they have the right to stop the operations of 
business by the issue of an order in the name of organized 
labor or associated capital cannot be tolerated. When such 
an order is given in regard to any railway or any other 
means of communication, it is a direct assault upon the 
common weal ; and the failure to arrest and punish the 
offenders thus usuri)ing the executive functions of the 
State and the judicial power of the courts, is proof of 
cowardice on the part of the public officials and of degen- 
eracy in i)ublic opinion, which excuses or permits the 
violation of the principle of the common law, that ' not 
even the king can obstruct -the highway.' 

" And yet we live in a country and under a government 
professedly of law founded upon public opinion, in which 
all of these abuses go unpunished. If they continue, dis- 
orders will increase, and capital will retire from business 
subject to such outrage and disturbance. 

*' What we need, therefore, is a recurrence to the well- 
settled principles of jurisprudence, a higher order of states- 
niansbip, and the courage on the part of our public men to 



13 

stand up for the right, though for the time it may involve 
the sacrifice of personal popularity." 

In 1867, Mr. Hewitt's report as United States Commis- 
sioner to the Paris Exposition attracted great attention in 
Europe, and was declared by experts to be a masterpiece. 

In his letter of acceptance of the nomination for Mayor 
in 1886, Mr. Hewitt said : "No pledges to any party or 
any set of men have been asked. Nor under any circum- 
stances would I make any other pledge than that which I 
now fully give, that, if elected, I will discharge the duties 
according to law to the best of my strength and ability, 
keeping in view the interest of the whole people without 
distinction of party and class, and in strict conformity 
to the legislation affecting the Civil Service and the just 
demands of the great mass of the people for the removal 
of abuses which impose taxation without corresponding 
benefits." The foregoing pledges were fully redeemed at 
the cost of creating many enemies in his own party ; the 
seekers of place and patronage were all against him, and 
did all they could to tie the Mayor's hands in matters of 
retrenchment and reform. The Mayor at that date had 
far less power than is lodged under the present charter 
with the incumbent of that office. A letter and some 
extracts made from the final report made by Mayor 
Hewitt to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
throw light upon the manner in which he performed the 
duties of his office. 

Mr. Hewitt often expressed to friends his high appreci- 
ation of the memorable history and traditions of this 
Chamber, of its value as a leader of public opinion, and 
of its generous contributions to sufferers by famine, fire or 



14 

flood. In a late speech he spoke of the initial movement 
of the Chamber in favor of the Erie Canal ; of its effective 
promotion of the Croton water system and referred to the 
Rapid Transit act of the Chamber as its crowning glory. 
Huntington's picture of the Incorporators of the first 
Atlantic Cable Company, hanging on yonder wall, will 
remind you of the prominent part the members of this 
Chamber took in that great enterprise. 

Mr. Hewitt once said to me that his friendship for Mr. 
George Wilson, who has served the Chamber with such 
conspicuous ability and fidelity for forty-seven years, 
originated with the fact that Mr. Wilson's father rendered 
kind service to Mr. Hewitt as monitor during his career 
in a public school, of which the senior Wilson was for 
many years afterwards a most efficient Principal. 

Mr. Hewitt's connection of forty- two years with this 
Chamber is best illustrated by extracts from its minutes. 
They will recall important incidents in his career, and the 
opinion of well qualified judges of a life passed under 
public observation. 

At a meeting of the Chamber on April 5th, 1900, the fol- 
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted : 

" Resolved, That a gold medal be struck in recognition 
of the eminent services of the Honorable Abram S. 
Hewitt in the cause of Civic Rapid Transit under Muni- 
cipal ownership, and that it be presented to him by the 
President, with assurances of the admiration, respect and 
affectionate regard of his fellow members of the Chamber 
of Commerce of the State of New- York." 

At the same meeting Honorary Membership was con- 
ferred upon him. 



15 



Only a few can rise to conspicuous positions in several 
vocations as did Mr. Hewitt. Most men must select on™ 
and work like slaves if they aspire to be leaders. He was 
a recognized leader in his business. His political career 
rose to the dignity of states.nanship. He was a practical 
philanthropist; understanding well the trusteeship of 
wealth. He valued money for the power it gave him to 
dispense it wisely, and generally without public know- 
ledge. He was an educator of sound monetary and 
economic policies, and an orator of rare intelligence who 
commanded attention by force and clearness of statement 
He believed that it was the duty of all good citizens to 
take part in politics. He was a democrat by conviction, 
but re used to follow his party in theirattempt to dethrone 

?190 ''w "'• ""' ""' '" *'" P--d-'ial campaign 
of 1900, "We are compelled by every consideration of 
duty and honor to repudiate Brtanism and all that it 
represents." He voted twice for MoKinlev, in order to 
emphasize his position on the currency question. In the 
last two municipal elections he warmly supported Seth 
Low, and strongly advised Mr. Sh^pard ,o decline the 
nomination for mayor. He was a strenuous advocate of 
the theory that party considerations should not influence 
the voter in municipal elections, and that the Government 
of a City was a matter of business. He became prominent 
in City politics in 1871, when, upon the downfall of 
Tweed, he was made chairman of a committee of influen- 
nal citizens appointed to reform and reorganize the 
Democratic party ; his associates were the elder Belmont 
Green, Cooper, Barlow and John Kelly, with Tilden 
as their confidential adviser. His twelve years of service 
in Congress demonstrated by his speeches and actions in 



16 

Committees that he dared to be in a small minority on the 
right side. He was confident that the silver heresy then 
sustained by both political parties could not long survive 
public examination and discussion. The verdict'of history 
has already been rendered on that question and has vindi- 
cated his efforts. He was the author of legislation in 
Congress, by which the National Bureau of Labor was 
organized and the Geological Survey created. To him also 
belongs the credit of originating the unique precedent by 
which the rapid transit subway system was created with 
an expense of about fifty millions of dollars, and which, 
without cost to the taxpayers, becomes, in a term of years, 
the property of the City. 

" Paint every wart and wrinkle, or I will not pay you a 
shilling," said Cromwell to the artist. Carlisle gave 
similar instructions to his biographer. Mr. Hewitt was 
broad enough to desire that the lights and shadows of his 
character should be known. He was accustomed to plain 
speaking when occasion demanded it. He had a Junius- 
like mastery of irony and repartee, of ready wit and biting 
sarcasm, which he used effectively to defend the right, but 
never from personal motives or to cause unnecessary pain. 
He was the friend of good men, and hated with honest 
indignation unworthy ones. He suffered for years with 
insomnia which at times rendered him momentarily im- 
patient. Some critics thought his judgment of public men 
and measures too severe. He was accustomed to criticism 
and commendation, as he said himself, frequently more of 
the former than the latter ; he never hesitated to reverse 
previously expressed opinions when new light, the changes 
of time and the fluctuations of circumstances required it. 
He recognized his own limitations. He once remarked to 



17 

a friend, «« I know my failings, if I had had a good temper 
I might have been nominated to a high office." Renan 
said to Taine that the failings of Napoleon contributed 
to his greatness, and that if " Napoleon had been as cour- 
teous as my friend, he might have been as commonplace as 
most of us." John Moeley quotes Dr. Johnson's famous 
remark : " That a man will please more upon the whole by 
negative than positive qualities." Mr. Hewitt's qualities 
were positive. 

The generation of great English statesmen, orators and 
writers of the time of Geoege III., included such men as 
Burke, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Windham, and Grey. 
Of this brilliant galaxy, the genius of Burke was easily at 
the head. His speeches and writings will continue to be 
studied by lovers of English literature for their high ideals 
of morality and justice and their profound and philosophic 
enidition. It may be considered presumptions on my part 
to compare Hewitt with the great Englishman in those 
qualities, which, by common and historic consent are in- 
separably connected with the name of Burke. Yet, Mr 
President and gentlemen, read Mr. Hewitt's address, de- 
livered at Columbia University, on "Liberty, Learn- 
ing and Property," and notably his address at the 
Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, and I think you will 
agree with me that he more nearly approached the 
Ideals and spirit of Burke than any man of our generation. 
The substance if not the text of these remarkable addresses 
deserve to be taught in our schools as an inspiration and 
an educational force. 

Adam Smith, although living in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century, was the most eminent writer on 



18 

economic and industrial problems that the English speak- 
ing race has produced. 

John Stuart Mill and his school, the French and 
German critics, acknowledged Adam Smith as original 
authority upon these questions. He has been quoted by- 
English statesmen from Pitt to Gladstone. 

Mr. Hewitt had prominent in his library Smith's 
" Wealth of Nations," and was a profound student of 
this work. It is easy to see that Mr. Hewitt's 
writings and speeches were influenced by that famous 
economic writer. 

Mr. Hewitt's ready and magnanimous sympathy for the 
unfortunate is illustrated by the fact that a man without 
influential friends, then unknown to him but who after- 
wards became notorious in the political affairs of this City, 
was indicted for murder and placed on trial for his life. Mr. 
Hewitt became convinced, upon reliable evidence brought 
to him privately, that the man was innocent of the charge. 
He retained, at his own expense, a prominent lawyer to 
defend him, and secured his acquittal. 

John Hats Hammond, an American citizen, a distin- 
guished member of the American Institute of Mining 
Engineers, was arrested in South Africa in connection with 
t he Jamieson raid. Mr. Hewitt, believing an innocent man 
in danger of being shot, used his influence in government 
circles and secured his release. 

His love of good books was phenomenal. He was an 
untiring reader of works of instruction and information, 
and seldom of those of mere amusement and recreation, 
although he, like Gladstone, occasionally read and en- 
joyed the works of the writers of fiction. That he became 



19 

a profound thinker was largely due to his study of the 
great masters of thought. 

A hard working man, if he arrives at old age with his 
powers, mental and physical, unimpaired, must have an 
outside hobby as a safety valve and for rest from the hard 
grind of daily toil ; books and their collection were Mr, 
Hewitt's hobby. 

When Mr. Caknegie announced his gift to the City of 
five millions of dollars for library buildings, Mr. Hewitt 
promptly offered to furnish two sites for the same. He 
early formed a library especially rich in books on finance 
and political economy, which was, unfortunately, de- 
stroyed by fire. He made a second collection of statistical, 
reference and illustrated works of such varied and com- 
prehensive subjects as would interest the student of eco- 
nomics, the statesman and the man of science and art. He 
instructed his children to make frequent use of the refer- 
ence books of the great libraries. He formed scrap-books 
gathered from domestic and foreign sources, properly in- 
dexed and easy of reference, which became encyclopedias 
of useful information His mind was enriched by travel 
and the study of the great museums and collections, in- 
cluding the famous historic houses of Europe. His own 
house showed the cultivation and refinement of its occu- 
pants. It was a matter of regret to Mr. Hewitt that his 
fortune was not sufficiently large to enable him to make 
an important collection of art works without neglecting 
the more important demands upon his means for the ob- 
jects to which his life was devoted. 

Many years ago he built and equipped a school house in 
Ringwood, where he introduced manual training. He and 
Mrs. Hewitt subsequently gave five hundred dollars per 



20 

aanam ; the State of New-Jersey contributing a like 
amount to cover the expenses of this work. The Ring- 
wood School was the first country district school in 
that State where manual training was introduced. He 
had planned shortly before his death to address the 
Legislature of the State in order to endeavor to per- 
suade its members to make manual training a part 
of the regular district school course, but sickness pre 
vented this object. On one occasion, when the County 
Superintendent had closed the school at Stonetown, 
on account of some absurd technicality, Mr. Hewitt 
re engaged the teacher and paid her salary and the 
school was continued as usual. He drew up the first 
articles for the constitution of the Carnegie Institute at 
Washington for Original Research. He also prepared the 
articles of incorporation for the Burke Institute for Con- 
valescents, the disposition of the entire fortune of four 
millions having been confided to him for that purpose. 
He was the originator of the New- Jersey Geological Sur- 
vey, resulting in the present great collection of topographi- 
cal maps and tabulated information. 

He was a Director and Trustee of many financial and 
industrial organizations, but is more particularly known 
for his connection with educational institutions. He was 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Insti- 
tute ; Chairman and Secretary of the Cooper Union ; 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Barnard College ; 
a Trustee of the Museum of Natural History and a mem- 
ber of the Palisades Commission, and was twice President 
of the American Institute. 

Mr. Hewitt seldom made expression of his religious 
sentiments ; he valued a life more than a creed, and 



21 

Christian work more than theological dogmas. It is cer- 
tain that his ideas of good and evil, of right and wrong 
were regulated by the precepts and example of the founder 
of Christianity. He was the friend and adviser of men of 
many denominations. He became early a member of the 
Episcopal Church, and was for many years a vestryman 
of Calvary Church, and was much interested in the east 
side work of that parish. If one's convictions may be 
judged by acts then it is evident that Mr. Hewitt believed 
that self-denial for the needs of others is the supreme 
element in character, and, in the words of Lecky : "It is 
not even true that the end of man should be to find peace at 
last, but it should be to do his duty and to tell the truth." 

In the last year of his life he founded, at the personal 
cost of thirty thousand dollars, a District School in Mid- 
vale, N. J., and equipped it with the necessary tools and 
implements for thorough manual training, and paid the 
salary of an instructor for one year, to conduct it as an 
object lesson for that section. He also established in the 
building hot and cold baths for both sexes, as a means of 
inculcating sanitary education. Among his instructions 
to one of his daughters during his last illness was to erect 
a flag pole at Midvale school house, to put a bell in the 
building, and to place a tablet in the school room in 
memory of Col. Robert Erskine and the veterans of 
the Revolutionary War, with an appropriate inscrip- 
tion, which he suggested ; he always caused the graves of 
the Revolutionary heroes buried at Ringwood to be 
decorated on suitable occasions. 

A meeting of the friends of Mr. Hewitt was held on 
February 18th, 1903, to recommend a testimonial in his 
honor. It was decided that the most fitting monument to 



22 

liis memory was the further endowment of Cooper Union, 
'Ho which, from its inception, he gave his time and effort 
" most generously of his means, his wonderful talent, his 
"great ability, and a fund of accurate information, which 
was almost inexhaustible." The fund for this purpose 
amounted to $217,420, which was added to the special 
endowment fund of the Union, 

Those admitted to the inner circle of Mr. Hewitt's 
confidence were always charmed by his gracious hos- 
pitality and keen sympathies for the amenities of home 
life. Great as were his intellectual qualifications, his 
heart, more than the brain, often controlled his conduct. 
Character was his standard of success. He was a 
worker for humanity, and has made the world better 
worth living in for those who come after him. He 
acquired breadth of vision and insight which penetrated 
beneath the popular opinions and policies of the hour, 
and advocated principles which are of universal applica- 
tion in all time. He adopted as his motto, " Be just and 
fear not." It was the keynote of his character and actions. 
The example of a long life of intense activity and use- 
fulness is his legacy to posterity. Cooper Union was to 
the last the cherished idol of all his enterprises, all per- 
sonal and private duties and obligations were second to 
this end. It is impossible to exaggerate the amount of 
service given by Mr. Hewitt in order to develop this insti- 
tution in accordance with the wishes of its founder, and 
it was the dream of his early manhood, that it should be 
endowed sufficiently, so that it might continue without debt 
or embarrassment its noble work after his death. After 
forty years of patient waiting and working, this dream, 
which at times seemed hopeless, was fully realized. Then, 



23 

as he had passed the allotted age, he said, with serene 
contentment, "My life work is finished." The last words 
of a good man when life's tide is ebbing away are always 
pathetic. "In his hushed and waiting chamber" he 
spoke to his wife of the assured position of the Cooper 
Union ; shortly afterward and conscious to the end he 
heard the "sunset gun." He could answer "Ready" to 
the last summons, and the "Readiness is all." 

Burke said; "Death sanctilies and canonizes a great 
character." Nature endowed Mr. Hewitt with a brilliant 
intellect, a fertile imagination, a capacious memory, great 
capacity for work and conscientious devotion to duty 
combined with heroic courage to face fearlessly the great 
problems of the time, regardless of personal considera- 
tions — all controlled by the highest ideal of rectitude. 

Within the limits proper to this occasion I have 
attempted only an inadequate sketch. In summing 
up the result of my study of Mr. Hewitt's life and 
character, may I be permitted to do so in the words of 
Adam Smith concerning his friend Hume : 

" Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both 
in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as 
nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man as 
perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit." 

Some skilled biographer should relate in detail the 
story of Mr. Hewitt's life, as an inspiration and example 
to the rising generation. 

Mr. President, the Chamber has done well to perjDetuate 
upon this scene of his important activities the well known 



34 

form and features of one of the first citizens of the Re- 
public. 

Will you permit me in closing to read the fine memorial 
lines of Richard Watson Gilder, entitled : 

THE GREAT CITIZEN, 

ABRAM STEVENS HEWITT, 

BOKN July 31, 1822. Died January 18, 1903. 

Mourn for his death, but for his life rejoice, 
Who was the city's heart, the city's voice. 

Dauntless in youth, impetuous in age, 
Weighty in speech, in civic counsel sage ; 

Talents and wealth to him were but a trust 
To lift his hapless brother from the dust, — 

This his chief aim to wake, in every man, 
The soul to do what only courage can. 

He saw the evil, as the wise must see, 

But firm his faith in what the world shall be. 

Following the truth, he led his fellow men,— 
Through years and virtues the great citizen 

By being great, he made the city great, — 
Serving the city, he upheld the state. 

So shall the city win a purer fame 
Led by thf living splendor of his name. 



APPENDIX. 



ADDRESS OP SIR JAMES KIT80N, ON TRESENTING TO MR. HEWITT 
THE BESSEMER GOLD MEDAi. 

" I have now the duty— the very pleasant duty— to perform ot 
presenting to the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt the Bessemer gold medal 
lor distinguished services to the iron and steel trade. When this 
matter was brought under consideration in London it was well 
known that, as Mr. Hewitt would be the first to acknowledge, 
there la more than one man in America upon whom we would 
gladly have conferred this distinction, and to whom this merit 
might be justly attributed ; but Mr. Hewitt has been long known 
to our distinguished members on the other side of the Atlantic as 
one of the most active minds in the investigation of new methods 
of manufacture, and one of the most enterprising metallurgists 
on this side of the Atlantic. Well, gentlemen, we proposed to 
Mr. Hewitt that he should receive this gold medal, but I think it 
is quite right, and is his due, that I should state that he at once 
declined to receive it ; and he declined in a manner which rendered 
it impossible to any one but very persistent friends and very 
obstinate Englishmen to refuse. When we heard that our Ameri- 
can friends had conferred once more upon Mr. Hewitt the distinc- 
tion of President of the American Institute of Mining Engineers 
and particularly with reference to our contemplated visit and 
when we heard that he had been elected unanimously to that posi- 
tion, we felt that we had received the stamp of approval from this 
side." 

" Gentlemen, as I said before, Mr. Hewitt has long been known 
to many of us in England as an advocate of scientific education. A 



26 

report which he made of the metallurgical products at the Paris 
Exposition in 1867 was one of the matters which drew very 
clearly and distinctly the attention of the English iron and steel 
trade to the necessity of further improvement in our technical 
education as to iron and steel ; and it was one of those beginnings 
which led ultimately to the foundation of the Iron and Steel Insti- 
tute. The development of the ideas which he there investigated 
undoubtedly led our foremost minds to the foundation of this 
institute ; and, therefore, it is only a debt of gratitude which we are 
paying when we present to him this gold medal. But, gentlemen, 
his services to the iron and steel trade of America are very remark- 
able. I might take up again the point which Mr. Carnegie gave 
me yesterday, that this is a year and that this is the country of 
"firsts ;" for, in 1856, very shortly after the announcement by Sir 
Henry Bessemer of his invention for the manufacture of steel at 
Cheltenham, Mr. Hewitt very quickly made inquiries ; and the 
result of those inquiries was that the first experimental Bessemer 
converter in America was erected at the works of Messrs. Cooper 
and Hewitt in 1856. In fact, I believe that, with the usual 
rapidity of Americans, within sixty days from that announcement, 
a Bessemer converter was working in the States." 

" When, then, I find further that Mr. Hewitt was the first to build 
an open-hearth furnace in the United Statf s. He was concerned 
with the Martin patents, involving also the use of the Siemen's 
regenerative furnace, and the open-hearth furnace which he built 
for the manufacture of steel was the successful " first " of a multi- 
tude. To him is, therefore, due the initiative of the introduction 
of that process." 

" But not content with that, on the announcement of Mr. Snelus's 
invention for improved basic linings, Mr. Hewitt took an interest 
in that invention, which was the first step which led him to be 
associated with the Thomas- Gilchrist basic patents, and through 
his intervention that process also was first introduced into the 
United States." 

I think, gentlemen, that I have given you a record which justifies 
our distinguishing him, and also ourselves, by enrolling him on the 
list of the recipients of the Bessemer Medal. Of him, as a man 
in New-York, it is not for me to speak. His integrity, his public 
spirit, his self-denial, are well known to you all. I think that 1 



27 

might rightly use toward him the words of one of your American 
writers, who says : 

" You know him well ; no need of praise, 
Or bonfire from the windy hill 
To light to loftier paths and ways 
The world- worn man we honor still." 



I-ETTER TO MR. SMITH. 

New-York, January 22, 1901. 

Deau Mr. Smith :****** 
I found the enclosed proof sheets of ray final report as Mayor 
made to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment at the close of 
my term of oflBce. On looking it over, it seems to me that it pre- 
sents pretty clearly the nature of the duties of the Mayor, and the 
manner in which a conscientious executive can perform the duties 
of the office. 

In the statement there is nothing exaggerated. The public never 
understood what was accomplished during the two years of my 
service, but the chief thing was that when I surrendered the office 
to my successor every department of the City Government was in 
an efficient condition and honestly administered. The ^)er cajnta 
expenses were less than at any previous period in the recent history 
of New- York. Of course the beginning only was made of the en- 
terprises which ought to have been continued and completed. The 
change in administration practically rendered the preparations 
which had been made of no use until Mayor Strong resumed the 
consideration of some of the improvements which were suggested. 

If the matter does not interest you, do not trouble to read the 
document, which has long since been forgotten. 

Sincerely yours, 

Abram S. Hewitt. 
Chas. Stewart Smith, Esq. 



extracts from the message of mayor HEWITT TO THE BOARD 
OF ESTIMATE AND APPORTIONMENT, DECEMBER 3lST, 1888. 

"On my accession to office on the 1st of January, 1887, I found 



28 

very grave abuses in nearly every department of the government, 
which were the subject of general complaint. The heads of de- 
partment invariably defended themselves against these complaints 
by the statement that the appropriations were insufficient for the 
due enforcement of law and the proper discharge of the duties 
confided to them. The first months of my administration were, 
therefore, devoted to a careful investigation of the facts, and I was 
driven to the conclusion that the appropriations made for carrying 
on the government during the year 1887 were insufficient for its 
proper conduct." 

" Nevertheless, with the means at the command of the several 
departments, very considerable reforms were effected." 

" The machinery of justice having thus been improved a vigor- 
ous effort was made to suppress places of evil resort, and particu- 
larly those known as ' dives.' My personal appeal to the Commis- 
sioners of Police was met by a hearty response, and the result was 
that, before the summer of 1887, the most notorious, if not all, of 
these vicious resorts were closed." 

"On investigation I discovered that the accommodations pro- 
vided by the insane asylums were totally inadequate to care for the 
inmates. The first step was to lease buildings from the Commis- 
sioners of Emigration, by which five hundred or six hundred 
lunatics were properly housed. I called upon the State Board of 
Charities to investigate the condition of the asylums, and their 
report confirmed all the allegations which had been made, except 
that there had been any failure of duty on the part of the Com- 
missioners and the physicians. The whole difficulty was chargeable 
to want of sufficient appropriations to carry on the institutions in 
accordance with the requirements of humanity. I therefore re- 
quested the Commissioners, in their estimates for the year 1888, to 
include a sum sufficient to remove, as far as practicable, all just 
grounds of complaint." 

"In the Health Department the increase was $41,769. This 
department I found to be in a demoralized condition in conse- 
quence of the removal of the President of the Board, which had 
not yet been confirmed by the Governor. As soon as this removal 
became effective the Board was re-organized, with results which 



29 

have called forth general commendation. Daring the past year 
this City has been subjected to the inroad both of cholera and 
yellow fever. No apprehension was excited in the public mind, 
nor indeed was there any real danger, because the arrangements 
made by the Health Department were so complete as to call forth 
general admiration." 

" In this connection it is proper to refer to the quarantine estab- 
lishment, which was found to be in a deplorably dilapidated condi- 
tion, entirely unable to cope with the dangers of contagion. I 
made a prompt representation of the facts to the Governor, and, 
finally, failing to get action, appealed directly to the Legislature, 
who at length appropriated about $200,000 for the reconstruction 
and improvement of the sanitary arrangements of the quarantine 
establishment. This work has been done by a Commission of 
which the Mayor is a member, and the result has been to make the 
City comparatively safe from the dangers of disease imported from 
abroad. The work now in hand will be completed during the coming 
year, and will then provide the safeguards for which it was designed." 

" On my accession to office I was met with complaints in regard 
to the filthy condition of the streets. Prompt steps were taken to 
change the method and time of collecting ashes and garbage, 
which had been an offence to all decent people. An additional 
appropriation of $209,459 was made in order to enable the Com- 
missioner of Street Cleaning to sweep the streets more frequently, 
and, although complaints are still rife, it is but right to say that 
the streets have never, within the memory of its citizens, been as 
clean as they are at the present time. They never can be properly 
cleaned, however, until the pavements are put in good order, and 
the various corporations, which have now the right to tear up the 
streets, are prohibited from destroying the pavements at their own 
pleasure." 

"The sum of $309,079 was added to the tax levy in 1888 more 
than was paid in 1887. This money was imperatively required to 
put the school-houses into a proper state of repair and for the 
erection of one additional school-house pending authority from the 
Legislature to issue bonds for the construction of other school-houses. 
The work of repairing the existing buildings is now almost en- 
tirely completed, and the neglect of past years has been corrected. 



30 

Provision has been made for the erection of aeventeeu additional 
Bchool-houses, of which eight are under way and nine more are 
being prepared for contracts." 

"At the outset of ray term of oflEice I adopted the principle of 
calling together the heads of Department to consult as to the legis- 
lation which might be required for the advantage of the City and 
the better conduct of its business. Every act proposed was care- 
fully considered by this conference. One hundred and ninety-one 
bills directly affecting the City of New- York were passed during 
the last year. The passage of many objectionable bills was thus 
defeated, but in some important cases the Legislature acted di- 
rectly against the recommendations of the City authorities. The 
Commission for the construction of the electrical subways was thus 
organized against the unanimous protest of the City officials who had 
recommended the addition of the Mayor, Comptroller and Com- 
missioner of the Public Works to the Commission, but the latter 
two officers were omitted. The consequence has been that the 
work has gone on in a manner which has been exceedingly destruc- 
tive to the use of the streets, and the result is believed by many 
competent experts to be an entire failure. The only consolation is 
that it is not paid for out of the City treasury. The importance 
of buying the electrical wires is so great that it is to be hoped that 
some means may be found of making the existing conduits of use 
in order that the improvement may not be indefinitely postponed." 

" A bill was carefully prepared to provide for the construction of 
a rapid transit route from the Annexed District to the lower end of 
the island. This bill failed of enactment, but the work of prepara- 
tion has been made, and the people of this City can get the ad- 
vantage of it whenever they choose to bring public opinion to bear 
upon the Legislatui-e in favor of a proposition which, while it in- 
volves no ultimate outlay of public money, will secure forever to its 
inhabitants the control and ownership of a structure indispensable 
to the growth of the City and the increase of its taxable property." 

"On coming into office I found the dockets of the various Muni- 
cipal Commissions of which the Mayor is a member greatly en- 
cumbered with business. This has all been disposed of, so that the 
new administration veill come into power absolutely free from com- 
plications arising out of various public questions which had been 
postponed from year to year." 



31 



TRIBUTES TO MR. HEWITT AT A MEETING OF THE CHAMBER OF 
COMilERCE, APRIL 5TH, 1900, WHEN A GOLD MEDAL WAS 
ORDERED TO BE STRUCK IN RECOGNITION OF MR. HEWITT'S 
SERVICES IN THE CAUSE OF CIVIC RAPID TRANSIT. 

REMARKS OF MR. ALEXANDER E. ORR. 

"In brief, the history is this: In 1888, Abram S. Hewitt, then 
Mayor of New- York, in his annual message, called the attention of 
the Board of Aldermen to the pressing need of real rapid transit, 
and earnestly advocated Municipal construction as the only means 
of obtaining it effectively. The Board of Aldermen gave little 
heed to his suggestion. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. Hewitt pre- 
pared a Bill illustrative of his views, and had it introduced at Al- 
bany. It was referred to the Committee on Cities, and there it 
was smothered, for it never got back to the Legislature and no 
results followed. In 1891, another effort was made, but on differ- 
ent lines than those advocated by Mr. Hewitt. An Act was 
passed which created a Rapid Transit Commission, with power to 
lay out routes, adopt methods of construction, etc., and offer the 
franchise in perpetuity at public auction to private enterprise. But 
private capital was timid and could not be tempted with even the 
promise of perpetual ownership, and the result was a failure." 

" It was then that this Chamber, in 1894, recognizing the dano-er 
of further delay to the commercial interests of the City, appointed 
a Committee to investigate and report upon the Rapid Transit 
situation, and it was then that the transcendant genius and foresight 
of Mr. Hewitt and the benefits of the previous study he had given 
to the whole question came into full play. By direction of the 
Chamber, and under his skillful guidance and assisted by Henry 
R. Beekman, now Mr. Justice Beekman, as counsel, the Commit- 
tee prepared amendments to the Act of 1891, and backed by the 
influence and confidence that the Chamber enjoys, had them intro- 
duced into the Legislature, and they were finally enacted into law." 

" Briefly stated the main features of the amendments are these : A 
new Commission was created composed of eight members, five of 
whom were named in the Bill, (all being members of this Chamber,) 
and three were ex officio, (viz.,) the Mayor, the Comptroller and 
the President of the Chamber of Commerce. The Commission was 
authorized to lay out routes, prepare plans and specifications, and 



32 

select motive power, etc. This being done, the right to construct 
wa.H vested in the City, provided, after open competition, an accept- 
able lessee was found who would agree, for a certain fixed sum, to 
construct, equip and operate the road for a period not less than 
thirty-five or more than fifty years, paying as rent the interest on 
the bonds to be issued by the City for construction purposes, and a 
further annual sum of not less than one per cent, towards the crea- 
tion of a sinking fund, from which the bonds are to be paid at 
maturity, the lessee meanwhile giving security satisfactory to the 
Commission for the full performance of his contract and leasehold 
obligations. The entire credit of inventing these provisions belongs 
to Mr. Hewitt, and the more critically they are examined the 
more remarkably advantageous to all parties in interest they ap- 
pear. The City under them retains its valuable franchise, and at 
the end of the lease will own the road and hold possession of the 
key to the rapid transit situation absolutely, without the expendi- 
ture of a single dollar for construction or interest." 



EEMABKS OF MR. CHARLES S. SMITH. 

" Mb. President : I regard it as a privilege to second with great 
cordiality the resolution offered by my friend, Mr. Orr. During 
the seven years, sir, in which I occupied your chair, it is only just 
to say, tliat I was under more obligation to Mr. Hewitt than to any 
other member for valuable advice and assistance concerning the 
important subjects that came before the Chamber, and we all know 
that his voice in the Chamber never failed to carry conviction, be- 
cause behind the spoken words was the character of the man. 
Lord Beaconsfield, in his famous tribute to Cobden in the House 
of Commons said, * There are men who are always members of this 
House, who are independent of the dissolutions of Parliament, the 
caprice of constituencies, and the flight of time, and such a man, I 
think, was Richard Cobden.' You will agree with me, Mr. Presi- 
dent, that we may well apply this splendid eulogy of Beacons- 
field to the services which our good friend, Mr. Hewitt has 
rendered to the City, State and nation, and that they will remain 
for our successors among the most cherished traditions of the 
Chamber." 

" I once heard Mr. Hewitt remark ' that he considered his life to 




G^a.^^.^/^ 




33 

have been a failure,' which I interpreted to mean that his highest 
ideals have not been realized. Mr. Hewitt has never followed the 
paths nor adopted the methods that ordinarily lead to preferment. 
He has never sacrificed principle to expediency. It is the man 
that dares to be ahead of the times that in the end leads the times, 
and Mr. Hewitt is to-day the acknowledged leader of the men in 
this great City who value citizenship above partisanship. What- 
ever may be Mr. Hewitt's personal estimate of his life's work, he 
is, in his serene old age, reaping the greatest of all earthly rewards 
in the love and respect of the people among whom he has passed 
his long and useful life." 

death OV MR. HEWITT. 

On February 5th, 1903, Mr. Jesup formally announced the death 
of Mr. Hewitt, and said : 

*' Gentlemen : I know that I am anticipating your thoughts and 
wishes when I announce that the regular business of the day will 
be deferred, and the hour usually devoted to that purpose will be 
spent in doing honor to the memory of him who has but recently 
gone from us." 

" Abkam S. Hewitt was the most distinguished member of this 
Chamber. His forty-two years of association as one of its leading 
members, taking an active part in its work and deliberations, 
always ready with pen and voice to advance its interest and influ- 
ence, made him the nestor of the Chamber, and accustomed us all 
to his leadership as by one mind." 

'* His unselfish devotion to duty, his sincerity of purpose, his keen 
and incisive mind, and above all, his accessibility and warm heart 
made him beloved, respected and honored by us all." 

" We shall miss him. The City, State and nation will miss him ; 
and, while he has gone from our sight, in our vision we shall be- 
hold him, and rejoice that such a life was given us for our inspira- 
tion and hope." 

" As you ascend the grand stairway of marble leading to this Hall 
you will observe spaces waiting to be filled as time passes with the 
statues of the worthies connected with this Chamber who have 
lived lives of usefulness and performed great deeds for City and 
country." 



34 

" Let us honor ourselves as we seek to honor the long and useful 
life of him who has gone by placing in the first space a statue of 
ihe purest marble, representing not only our holiest sentiment of 
respect and admiration, but the purity, sincerity and unselfish devo- 
tion to duty of the life of him who has departed." 



After the passage of appropriate resolutions, Mayor Low said 
in part : 

REMARKS OF MAYOR LOW. 

" Mr. Hewitt so used his business, also, as to broaden himself on 
every side, so that he met opportunities, the most various, in a way 
that reflected credit upon himself and upon the commercial life 
which developed such a man. He visited Constantinople on one 
occasion and so interested the Sultan that the Sultan presented to 
him a considerable library of Turkish books. I remember to have 
heard Gladstone quoted as having said, on one occasion, that he 
had enjoyed a talk with Mr. Hewitt more than with any other 
American he had ever met. When he spoke, as Mayor, at the 
dedication of the statue of Garibaldi, he so delighted the King of 
Italy that the king wished to confer upon him a decoration, which, 
however, Mr. Hewitt declined to receive. Such illustrations might 
be indefinitely multiplied of how he showed himself to be, on all 
sorts of occasions, a thoroughly well equipped man. A successful 
merchant or manufacturer of whom this may be saicl, and who, 
through a long life, has contributed to the industrial welfare of 
the country, has certainly added to the prestige of this Chamber." 



REMARKS OF MR. ANDREW CARNEGIE. 

" It is character and service alone which could draw us together 
to render this tribute to the man who, whether in wealth or 
poverty, in victory or defeat, in or out of oflice, was ever of spot- 
less reputation, notable for abnegation of self, devotion to duty, 
loyalty to truth, earnest conviction, high ideals, purity of life, a 
citizen of rare knowledge and wisdom, and of unflagging zeal for 
the public good." 

" Amidst many City institutions which benefitted by his labors one 
stands forth pre-eminent, that to which he devoted his life for forty 



35 

years, and with the inception of which he had much to do, Coopke 
Union. I wish all of you, and indeed all of the citizens of New- 
York, could visit it some night and see more than two thousand 
students receiving invaluable instruction, the young men and 
women who spend not only laborious days but laborious nights to 
lit themselves for greater use. In all my experience I have met 
with no educational work comparable to this of the Cooper Union 
and kindred institutions which attract the aspiring youth, he who 
supports himself by labor through the day and improves himself 
at night. This is Mr. Hewitt's living monument, no dead pile, 
but a monument with a soul in it, instinct with vitality, educating 
the most aspiring, from whom the leaders and benefact-ors of the 
race are to come." 



Mr. Alexander E, Orr said in part : 

*' To this Chamber, and the commercial interests of the City and 
State which it directly represents, Mr. Hewitt ever proved a loyal 
and true friend. His eminent services were continuously at our 
disposition and rendered with a promptness and comprehensiveness 
of the subject dealt with that seldom failed to bring conviction, 
and always added to our admiration. Our records sparkle through- 
out with the brilliancy of his addresses and reports, which, while 
serving as an incentive to those who are to follow, will keep his 
memory green and fresh in this Chamber as long as it endures." 

" If I was asked to put into the shortest sentence possible the 
dominant attributes of Mr. Hewitt's life I think I should say great 
achievement of purpose, irreproachable character and continuous 
service. It is not my privilege or my purpose to elaborate them 
here. They are National as well as Civic possessions of which all 
are justly proud, and concerning which much has been and will 
continue to be said and written. But who can tell of the inner 
Christian life, the inner philanthropic life ? It is true we know a 
little of that which, of necessity, appeared on the surface, but the 
story of the silent forces of his Christian philanthropy, of the warm 
sympathy of both mind and heart which have helped to make life 
easier, happier and more righteous to thousands of our fellow 
creatures, can only be found in that record which mortal eyes are 
not privileged to read.'' 



36 



REMARKS OF MR. "WILLIAM E. DODGE. 

" Mr. President and Gentlemen : In this commercial age, when 
a prominent man is taken away, we are very apt to say, " What 
has he left?" The reputation and the influence and the memory 
of Mr. Hewitt makes the accumulation of money, or fame in 
literature, or of luxury or expense, seem almost nothing. They 
are a rich legacy for his friends, and for those of us who loved 
him. New- York and the Chamber of Commerce have been rich in 
able, good and distinguished men, who have left a fine impress on 
the community. But Mr. Hewitt's life was a very unique and 
peculiar one ; his position differed from almost any man we have 
ever had with us. It was a long, beautiful, fully rounded out life, 
covering so many points, touching so many interests, helping us all 
so greatly, that we had learned to love him and look up to him 
almost as a father, as a mentor, a wise guide and adviser ; and 
when any public matter came up we wanted to know what Mr. 
Hewitt thought of it, and what his impressions were before we 
decided ourselves. It was a very simple and touching tribute that 
some one paid to him the other day when he said ' that New-York 
seemed lonesome without him.' " 



UEMARKS op the HON. CARL SCHURZ. 

" Indeed, the best eulogy that could be pronounced upon his life, I 
might say he would pronounce himself, if he could once more stand 
among us and speak to us as he so often did upon the affairs and 
the interests of the City and of the State and of the nation and of 
the world, illuminating our minds by the brilliant flashes of his 
high intelligence, fortifying his arguments with the vast resources 
of his knowledge and his almost unlimited experience. But one 
thing, I think, must have struck every one that ever came into con- 
tact with him, and that was the magnificent genuineness of the 
man. Here was a man of a very high order of ability, of large 
acquirements, of the gift of brilliancy in a rare degree, and yet 
that man never made the slightest attempt at false pretence, never 
the slightest effort to appear anything else than what he was. On 
the contrary, his instinctive impulse seems always to have been to 
appear just what he was ; and that was good. In tlie history of 



37 

the world those who have ever been among the favorite heroes of 
nations who stood up for the imperilled liberties and rights of the 
people against the arrogance of despotic princes ; but I think in 
times like ours — in fact at all times — and in a republic like ours 
— and in fact in all republics — there is need of men who will not 
only have the courage of confronting kings, but who have the 
courage of confronting the people themselves. The flatterer of a 
king may be simply contemptible ; but the sycophant of the people 
under a free government is in the highest degree dangerous ; and we 
may well say of Mr. Hewitt that to serve the cause of right and 
justice he never hesitated to differ from anybody and to maintain 
his own convictions ; nay, he dared to differ from the people them- 
selves for the people's good ; he had the courage to stand alone ; 
and that is one of the traits of civic heroism which we cannot too 
highly appreciate. To seek the truth without prejudice and tell 
the truth without fear is one of the highest principles that a public 
man in a republic can follow." 



EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH MADE BY MR. HEWITT ON LIBERTY, LEARN- 
ING AND PROPERTY, UPON THE OCCASION OF THE DEDICATION 
OF THE NEW BUILDINGS OF THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, MAY 
2d, 1896. 

But whence is the citizen to derive his knowledge of the nature 
of his rights, and how is he to rise to the full measure of the per- 
formance of his duties ? Political knowledge is not a natural 
endowment. It is the growth of painful experience, and the out- 
come of training through ages of effort and sacrifice. The history 
of the world is the record of its acquisition. In its range are 
included the lessons of every age and every nation. Heroes and 
saints, statesmen and demagogues, tyrants and traitors have alike 
made their contributions to its evolution. The silent masses of the 
people have suffered and died in order that humanity might at 
length achieve freedom. There is not a region on this great globe 
which has not made its mark upon the final record which we call 
civilization. 

******** 

If, as I have said, the leaders in the struggle for independence 
were oollege-bred men, the foundation of the Government and the 



88 

formation of the Constitution was pre-eminently their work. Of 
the fifty-five members of the Con8titutional Convention of 1787, 
nine were graduates of Princeton, four of Yale, three of Harvard, 
two of Columbia, one of Pennsylvania, seven of William and 
Mary and six of foreign colleges. The small number from 
Columbia was due to the fact that New-York sent but three dele- 
gates to the Convention, but its two sons, Alexander Hamilton 
and GouvEKNEUR Morris, were with Madison, and afterwards with 
Jay, in the " Federalist," the very bulwarks of that instrument 
which is acknowledged to be the most wonderful and successful 
political achievement ever devised by the wit of man. 

******** 

Liberty was indeed secured by the Constitution just ratified, 
but science was in its cradle. The principle of gravitation 
had been discovered, and the composition of air and water had 
recently been disclosed, but the application of this knowledge 
had not yet been made in America, Not a single steam engine 
had been erected on the continent, and beyond the rude application 
of a few water powers, all forms of industry were still carried on 
by hand. But the country was a land of unbounded resources, and 
its inhabitants, animated by individual energy and protected by 
law, were well prepared to undertake the conquest of a continent, 
and to develop its possibilities of wealth. The free spirit of the 
nation was thus loosened at the very juncture when science entered 
upon the career of discovery and development which has crowded 
the nineteenth century with great achievements and produced a 
sum of wealth far exceeding all the results of the eighteen pre- 
ceding centuries of the Christian era. No pen can describe, no 
imagination can conceive the material triumphs of which this gen- 
eration has been the witness and the partaker. 

The favorable geographical position of New- York gave it the 
natural primacy in this development, and its sons were not slow to 
see and to take advantage of its opportunity. DeWitt Clinton, 
the first graduate of Columbia College after the Revolution, created 
the Erie Canal, by which the wealth of the great West was opened 
up and poured into the lap of New- York. Robert R. Livingston 
(another graduate,) the great Chancellor who administered to 
Washington the oath of office, recognizing the genius of Fulton, 
supplied the means which made steam navigation a success. John 



39 

Stevkxs, an alumnus of Columbia College, gave us the railway and 
the screw propeller, which have revolutionized transportation by 
land and by sea and enabled us to feed the teeming millions of 
Europe. Thus were supplied the stimulus which has made the 
century now closing a very carnival of enterprise, and an uninter- 
rupted triumph of science and industry. 

******** 

A nation is not great because it is rich, any more than a man is 
a hero because he is a millionaire. The question is not how much 
riches we have accumulated but what we are doing with them. Is 
this great store of wealth being used merely for the acquisition of 
more wealth, and for the satisfaction of material wants and pleas- 
ures, or does a fair share of it go to the gratification of the spiritual 
needs of humanity and for its elevation into a higher and purer 
atmosphere ? 

******** 

Foreign immigration, which during the earlier part of the cen- 
tury was encouraged as a necessary means of development, and 
which, in fact, has largely contributed to the rapid growth of the 
country, has become a dangerous element, because much of it is 
now illiterate and of a character not easily assimilated into the 
general mass of the people. The magnitude of the danger may be 
inferred from the fact that we have received 18,000,000 of foreign- 
ers in the last twenty-five years, too many of whom are not in 
sympathy with our institutions, and cannot discharge the ordinary 
duties of the citizen. Again, the franchise has been diluted in the 
Southern States with illiteracy to such an extent as to compel 
objectionable methods of interference in order to preserve society 
from peril, if not from ruin. The rights and duties of the suffrage 
are, therefore, undergoing a new discussion, the outcome of which is 
involved in great uncertainty. It may be predicted, however, that 
if limitations shall be prescribed they are more likely to be imposed 
upon the rich than upon the poor. 

******** 

The feeling is rapidly spreading that the time has come for a new 
and nobler civilization. A spiritual wave like that which produced 
the crusades, erected the cathedrals and the universities in the 
Middle Ages, or the later movement which culminated in the 
Renaissance and in the Reformation, is plainly in sight and ready 



40 

to usher in the advent of the next century, when the question will 
be, not aa in the eighteenth century, " What are the rights of man," 
or in the nineteenth century, " How these rights are to be made 
available for the production of wealth," but rather what is the duty 
of society in regard to the use of wealth which has thus been 
created. 

A city is not great because it contains many dwellings and covers 
much territory. Its greatness does not consist in mere numbers and 
in commerce. Its eminence is determined by the character of its 
civilization and by its provision for the material, intellectual and 
spiritual wants of its citizens. Life, liberty and property must be 
secured, order maintained, and the law enforced. The best system 
and appliances of education must be provided for its children ; 
there must be adequate means of recreation from infancy to old 
age ; the young must be trained to habits of obedience and dili- 
gence ; outlets must be provided for their physical energies, and 
the spectacle of young men growing up without occupation must 
be removed from the conscience of the community, which is 
violated when there is no opportunity to learn menchanical trades — 
the natural outlet for their physical and mental powers. The 
population must be properly housed, perfect sanitary conditions 
must prevail, the standard of living must be raised, and parks and 
pleasure grounds provided on a scale which will enable every 
dweller in the city to exclaim : 

" I care not, Fortune, what you me deny 
You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace." 

Schools for commercial and, technical education must be provided 
at night, so that artisans of talent and ambition may have the op- 
portunity to develop natural capacity to its full extent ; the evil in- 
fluence of demoralizing resorts must be counteracted by the opening 
of museums of art, science, and industry, so that the population 
may become familiar with the highest types of beauty and 
the results of genius ; free libraries and reading-rooms must 
be provided on a scale demanded by the intellectual wants 
of an intelligent population ; such pi o vision should be made 
for the sick and poor that there will be no excuse for the 
presence in its avenues of tramps and beggars ; its streets should 



41 

be well paved and clean ; transit should be speedy and cheap, 
and, above all, the churches should be conducted in a spiri*, 
80 liberal as not merely to cultivate the religious instincts of men, 
but to exert a spiritual influence upon the rising generation through 
social organizations intended to amuse, instruct, and refine. 

******** 

The masses of the people have never demanded equality of for- 
tune, and indeed understand it to be impossible ; but they have 
always insisted, and will always insist upon equality of oppor- 
tunity. With free schools and universal education, with opportuni- 
ties for the youth of exceptional ability in the ranks of the rich 
or the poor to secure the benefits of the highest instruction, the 
approaches of communism need never be feared. Equality of op- 
portunity insures the ultimate distribution of wealth upon just con- 
ditions and within reasonable periods of time. If this were not so, 
society would be justified in demanding a reorganization upon 
more equitable lines. But this demand will not be made so long as 
provision exists for the general diffusion of knowledge, and the 
acquisition of that higher learning which is essential to the stability 
and development of civil institutions. 

******** 



ADDRESS MADa BY MR. HEWITT ON THE OPENING OF THE NKW- 
YORK AND BROOKLYN BRIDGE, MAY 24tH, 1883. 

Two hundred and seventy years ago the good ship " Tiger," 
commanded by Captain Adraien Block, was burned to the 
water's edge, as she lay at anchor, just off the southern end of 
Manhattan Island. Her crew, thus forced into winter quarters, 
were the first white men who built and occupied a house on the 
laud where New- York now stands ; " then," to quote the graphic 
language of Mrs. Lamb, in her history of the City, " in primeval 
solitude, waiting till commerce should come and claim its own. 
Nature wore a hardy countenance, as wild and as untamed as the 
savage landholders. Manhattan's twenty-two thousand acres of 
rock, lake and rolling table land, rising at places to a height of 
one hundred and thirty-eight feet, were covered with sombre 
forests, grassy knolls and dismal swamps. The trees were lofty ; 



42 

and old, decayed and withered limbs contrasted with the younger 
growth of branches ; and wild flowers wasted their sweetness 
among the dead leaves and uncut herbage at their roots. The 
wanton grape vine swung carelessly from the topmost boughs of 
the oak and the sycamore ; and blackberry and raspberry bushes, 
like a picket guard, presented a bold front in all possible avenues 
of approach. The entire surface of the island was bold and 
granitic, and in profile resembled the cartilaginous back of the 
sturgeon." 

This primeval scene was the product of natural forces working 
through uncounted periods of time ; the continent slowly rising 
and falling in the sea like the heaving breast of a world asleep ; 
glaciers carving patiently through ages the deep estuaries ; season's 
innumerable clothing the hills with alternate bloom and decay. 

The same sun shines to-day upon the same earth ; yet how trans- 
formed ! Could there be a more astounding exhibition of the 
power of man to change the face of nature than the panoramic view 
which presents itself to the spectator standing upon the crowning 
arch of the bridge, whose completion we are here to-day to cele- 
brate in the honored presence of the President of the United 
States, with their fifty millions ; of the Governor of the State of 
New-York, with its five millions ; and of the Mayors of the two 
cities, aggregating over two million of inhabitants ? In the place 
of stillness and solitude, the footsteps of these millions of human 
beings ; instead of the smooth waters " unvexed by any keel," 
highways of commerce ablaze with the flags of all the nations ; 
and where once was the green monotony of forested hills, the 
piled and towering splendors of a vast metropolis, the countless 
homes of industry, the echoing marts of trade, the gorgeous 
palaces of luxury, the silent and steadfast spires of worship ! 

To crown all, the work of separation wrought so surely, yet so 
slowly, by the hand of time, is now reversed in our own day, and 
" Manahatta " and "Seawanaka" are joined again, as once they 
were before the dawn of life in the far azoic ages. 

" It is done ! 

Clang of bell and roar of gan 
Send the tidings up and down, 

How the belfries rock and reel ! 

How the great guns, peal on peal, 
Fling the joy from town to town !" 



43 

" What hath God wrought !" were the words of wonder, which 
ushered into being the magnetic telegraph, the greatest marvel of 
the many marvelous inventions of the present century. It was the 
natural impulse of the pious maiden who chose this first message 
of reverence and awe, to look to the Divine Power as the author 
of a new gospel. For it was the invisible, and not the visible 
agency, which addressed itself to her perceptions. Neither the 
bare poles nor the slender wire, nor the magnetic battery, could 
suggest an adequate explanation of the extinction of time and 
space which was manifest to her senses, and she could only say, 
" What hath God wrought !" 

But when we turn from the unsightly telegraph to the graceful 
structure at whose portal we stand, and when the airy outline of 
its curves of beauty, pendant between massive towers suggestive 
of art alone, is contrasted with the over-reaching vault of heaven 
above and the ever moving flood of waters beneath, the work of 
omnipotent power, we are irresistibly moved to exclaim, What 
hath man wrought ! 

Man hath indeed wrought far more than strikes the eye in his 
daring undertaking, by the general judgment of engineers, without 
a rival among the wonders of human skill. It is not the work of 
any one man or of any one age. It is the result of the study, of 
the experience, and of the knowledge of many men in many ages. 
It is not merely a creation ; it is a growth. It stands before us to- 
day as the sum and epitome of human knowledge ; as the very heir 
of the ages ; as the latest glory of centuries of patient observation, 
profound study and accumulated skill, gained, step by step, in the 
never-ending struggle of man to subdue the forces of nature to his 
control and use. 

In no previous period of the world's history could this bridge 
have been built. Within the last hundred years the greater part 
of the knowledge necessary for its erection has been gained. 
Chemistry was not born until 1776, the year when political 
economy was ushered into the world by Adam Smith, and the 
Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by the Continental 
Congress, to be maintained at the point of the sword by George 
Washington. In the same year Watt produced his successful 
steam engine, and a century has not elapsed since the first specimen 
of his skill was erected on this continent. The law of gravitation 



44 

was indeed known a Lundred years ago, but the intricate laws of 
force, which now control the domain of industry, had not been de- 
veloped by the study of physical science, and their practical appli- 
cations have only been effectually accomplished within our own 
day, and, indeed, some of the most important of them during the 
building of the bridge. For use in the caissons, the perfecting of the 
electric light came too late, though happily in season for the illumi- 
nation of the finished work. 

This construction has not only employed every abstract con- 
clusion and formula of mathematics, whether derived from the 
study of the earth or the heavens, but the whole structure may be 
said to rest upon a mathematical foundation. The great dis- 
coveries of chemistry, showing the composition of water, the nature 
of gases, the properties of metals ; the laws and processes of 
physics, from the strains and pressures of mighty masses, to the 
delicate vibrations of molecules, are all recorded here. Every de- 
partment of human industry is represented, from the quarrying 
and the cutting of the stones, and mining and smelting of the ores, 
the conversion of iron into steel by the pneumatic process, to the 
final shaping of the masses of metal into useful forms, and its re- 
duction into wire, so as to develop in the high(!st degree, the ten- 
sile strength which fits it for the work of suspension. Every tool 
which tlie ingenuity of man has invented, has somewhere, in some 
special detail, contributed its share in the accomplishment of the 
final result. 

" Ah ! what a wondrous thing it is 
To note how many wheels of toil 
One word, one thought can set in motion." 

But without the most recent discoveries of science, which have 
enabled steel to be substituted for iron — applications made since 
the original plans of the bridge were devised — we should have had 
a structure fit, indeed, for use, but of such moderate capacity that 
we could not have justified the claim which we are now able to 
make, that the cities of New- York and Brooklyn have constructed, 
and to-day rejoice in the possession of the crowning glory of an 
age memorable for great industrial achievements. 

This is not the proper occasion for describing the details of this 
undertaking. This grateful task will be performed by the engineer 



45 

in the final report, with which every great work is properly com- 
mitted to the judgment of posterity. But there are some lessons 
to be drawn from the line of thought I have followed, which may 
encourage and comfort us as to the destiny of man, and the out- 
come of human progress. 

What message, then, of hope and cheer does this achievement 
convey to those who would fain believe that love travels hand in 
hand with light along the rugged pathway of time ? Have the dis- 
coveries of science, the triumphs of art, and the progress of civil- 
ization, which have made its accomplishment a possibility and a 
reality, promoted the welfare of mankind, and raised the great 
mass of the people to a higher plane of life ? 

This question can best be answered by comparing the compensa- 
tion of the labor employed in the building of this bridge, with the 
earnings of labor upon works of equal magnitude in ages gone by. 
The mone}'' expended for the work of construction proper on the 
bridge, exclusive of land damages and other outlays, such as inter- 
est, not entering into actual cost, is nine million ($9,000,000) dol- 
lars. This money has been distributed in numberless channels — 
for quarrying, for mining, for smelting, for fabricating the metals, 
for shaping the materials, and erecting the work, employing every 
kind and form of human labor. The wages paid at the bridge 
itself may be taken as the fair standard of the wages paid for the 
work done elsewhere. These wages are : 

Average. 

Laborers $1 75 per day. 

Blacksmiths 3 60 to $4 00 do. 

Carpenters 3 00 to 3 50 do. 

Masons and Stonecutters 3 50 to 4 00 do. 

Riggers 2 00 to 2 50 do. 

Painters 2 00 to 3 50 do. 

Taking all these kinds of labor into account, the wages paid for 
work on the bridge will thus average $2.50 per day. 

Now, if this work had been done at the time when the Pyramids 
were built, with the skill, appliances and tools then in use, and if 
the money available for its execution had been limited to nine 
million ($9,000,000) dollars, the laborers employed would have re- 
ceived an average of not more than two cents per day in money of 



46 

the same purcliasiug power as the coiu of the present era. In other 
words, the effect of the discoveries of new methods, tools and laws 
of force, has been to raise the wages of labor more than a hundred 
fold, in the interval which has elapsed since the Pyramids were 
built. I shall not weaken the suggestive force of this statement by 
any comments upon its astounding evidence of progress, beyond the 
obvious corollary, that such a state of civilization as gave birth to 
the Pyramids would now be the signal for universal bloodshed, 
revolution, and anarchy. I do not underestimate the hardships 
borne by the labor of our time. They are, indeed, grievous, and to 
lighten them is, as it should be, the chief concern of statesmanship. 
But this comparison proves that through forty centuries, these 
hardships have been steadily diminished ; that all the achievements 
of science, all the discoveries of art, all the inventions of genius, all 
the progress of civilization, tend by a higher and immutable law to 
the steady and certain amelioration of the condition of society. 
It shows that, notwithstanding the apparent growth of great for- 
tunes, due to an era of unparalleled development, the distribution 
of the fruits of labor is approaching from age to age to more 
equitable conditions, and must, at last, reach the plane of absolute 
justice between man and man. 

But this is not the only lesson to be drawn from such a com- 
parison. The Pyramids were built by the sacrifices of the living 
for the dead. They served no useful purpose, except to make 
odious to future generations the tyranny which degrades humanity 
to the level of the brute. In this age of the world such a waste 
of effort would not be tolerated. To-day the expenditures of com- 
munities are directed to useful purposes. Except upon works 
designed for defence in time of war, the wealth of society is now 
mainly expended in opening channels of communication for the 
free play of commerce, and the communion of the human race. 
An analysis of the distribution of the surplus earnings of man 
after providing food, shelter and raiment, shows that they are 
chiefly absorbed by railways, canals, ships, bridges and telegraphs. 
In ancient times these objects of expenditure were scarcely known. 
Our bridge is one of the most cons])icuous examples of this change 
in the social condition of the world, and of the feeling of men. In 
the middle ages cities walled each other out, and the fetters of 
prejudice and tyranny held the energies of man in hopeless bond- 



47 

age. To day men and nations seek free intercourse with each 
other, and much of the force of the intellect and energy of the 
world is expended in breaking down the barriers established by 
nature, or created by man, to the solidarity of the human race. 

And yet, in view of this tendency, the most striking and charac- 
teristic feature of the nineteenth century, there still are those who 
believe and teach that obstruction la the creator of wealth ; that 
the peoples can be made great and free by the erection of artificial 
barriers to the beneficient action of commerce, and the unrestricted 
intercourse of men and nations with each other. If they are right, 
then this bridge is a colossal blunder, and the doctrine which bids 
us to love our neighbors as ourselves is founded upon a misconcep- 
tion of the divine purpose. 

But the bridge is more than an embodiment of the scientific 
knowledge of physical laws, or a symbol of social tendencies. It is 
equally a monument to the moral qualities of the human soul. It 
could never have been built by mere knowledge and scientific skill 
alone. It required, in addition, the infinite patience and unwearied 
courage by which great results are achieved. It demanded the 
endurance of heat and cold, and physical distress. Its constructors 
have had to face death in its most i-epulsive form. Death, indeed, 
was the fate of its great projector, and dread disease the heritage 
of the greater engineer, who has brought it to completion. The 
faith of the saint, and the courage of the hero, have been combined 
in the conception, the design and the execution of this work. 

Let us then record the names of the engineers and foremen who 
have thus made humanity itself their debtor, for a successful 
achievement, not the result of accident or of chance, but the fruit 
of design, and of the consecration of all personal interest to the 
public weal. They are : John A. Roebling, who conceived the 
project and formulated the plan of the bridge ; Washington A. 
RoEBLixG, who, inheriting his fathei''s genius, and more than his 
father's knowledge and skill, has directed the execution of this 
great work from its inception to its completion ; aided in the 
several departments by Charles C. Maetin, Francis Colling- 
WOOD, William H. Payne, George W. McNultt, Wilheim 
HiLDERBRAND, Samuel R. Probasco as assistant engineers ; and 
as foremen by E. F. Farbington, Arthur V. Abbott, William 
Van deb Bosch, Chables Young and Harry Tupple, who, in 



48 

apparently subordinate positions, have shown themselves peculiarly 
fitted to command, because they have known how to serve. But 
the record would not be complete without reference to the unnamed 
men by whose unflinching courage, in the depths of the caissons, 
and upon the suspended wires, the work was carried on amid 
storms, and accidents, and dangers, sufficient to appall the stoutest 
heart. To them we can only render the tribute which history 
accords to those who fight as privates in the battles of freedom, 
with all the more devotion and patriotism because their names will 
never be known by the world whose benefactors they are. One 
name, however, which may find no place in the official records, 
cannot be passed over here in silence. In ancient times when great 
works were constructed, a goddess was chosen, to whose tender care 
they were dedicated. Thus the ruins of the Acropolis to-day recall 
the name of Pallas Athene to an admiring world. In the Middle 
Ages the blessing of some saint was invoked to protect from the 
rude attacks of the barbarians and the destructive hand of time the 
building erected by man's devotion to the worship of God. So, 
with this bridge will ever be coupled the thought of one, through 
the subtle alembic of whose brain, and by whose facile fingers, 
communication was maintained between the directing power of its 
construction, and the obedient agencies of its execution. It is thus 
an everlasting monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of woman, 
and of her capacity for that higher education from which she has 
been too long debarred. The name of Mrs. Emily Wareen 
RoHBLiNG will thus be inseparably associated with all that is ad- 
mirable in human nature, and with all that is wonderful in the 
constructive world of art. 

This tribute to the engineers, however, would not be deserved if 
there is to be found any evidence of deception on their part in the 
origin of the work, or any complicity with fraud in its execution 
and completion. It is this consideration which induced me to 
accept the unexpected invitation of the trustees to speak for the 
City of New- York on the present occasion. When they thus 
honored me they did not know that John A. Roebling addressed 
to me the letter in which he first suggested (and, so far as I am 
aware, he was the first engineer to suggest,) the feasibility of a 
bridge between the two cities, so constructed as to preserve unim- 
paired the freedom of navigation. This letter, dated June 19, 



49 

1857, 1 caused to be printed in the New- York Journal of Com- 
merce, where it attracted great attention because it came from an 
engineer who had already demonstrated, by successfully building 
suspension bridges over the Schuylkill, the Ohio and the Niagara 
rivers, that he spoke with the voice of experience and authority. 
This letter was the first step towards the construction of the work 
which, however, came about in a manner different from his expec- 
tations, and was finally completed on a plan more extensive than he 
had ventured to describe. It has been charged that the original 
estimates of cost have been far exceeded by the actual outlay. If 
this were true, the words of praise which I have uttered for the 
engineers, who designed and executed this work, ought rather to 
have been a sentence of censure and condemnation. Hence the 
invitation, which came to me unsought, seemed rather to be an 
appeal from the grave for such vindication as it was within my 
power to make, and which could not come with equal force from 
any other quarter. 

Engineers are of two kinds ; the creative and the constructive. 
The power to conceive great works demands imagination and faith. 
The creative engineer, like the poet, is born, not made. If to the 
power to conceive is added the ability to execute, then have we 
one of those rare geniuses, who not only give a decided impulse to 
civilization, but add new glory to humanity. Such men were 
Michael Anqelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Watt, Wedgewood, 
BuuNEL, Stevenson and Bessemer ; and such a man was John 
A. RoEBLiNG. It was his striking peculiarity, that while his con- 
ceptions were bold and original, his execution was always exact, 
and within the limits of cost which he assigned to the work of his 
brain. He had made bridges a study, and had declared in favor of 
the suspension principle for heavy traffic, when the greatest living 
authorities had condemned it as costly and unsafe. When he 
undertook to build a suspension bridge for railway use, he did so in 
the face of the deliberate judgment of the profession, that success 
would be impossible. Stevenson had condemned the suspension 
principle and approved the tubular girder for railway traffic. But 
it was the Nemesis of his fate, that when he came out to approve 
the location of the great tubular bridge at Montreal, he should pass 
over the Niagara river in a railway train, on a suspension bridgei 
which he had declared to be an impracticable undertaking. 



50 

When RoBBLiNG suggested the bridge over the East river, his 
ideas were limited to the demands of the time, and controlled by 
the necessity for a profitable investment. He had no expectation 
that the two cities would embark in the enterprise. Indeed, in one 
of his letters so late as April 14, 1860, he says, " As to the corpor- 
ations of New-York and Brooklyn undertaking the job, no such 
hope may be entertained in our time." In eight years thereafter 
these cities had undertaken the task upon a scale of expense far 
exceeding his original ideas of a structure, to be built exclusively 
by private capital for the sake of profit. 

How came this miracle to pass ? The war of the rebellion oc- 
curred, delaying for a time the further consideration of Roebling's 
ideas. This war accustomed the nation to expenditures on a scale 
of which it had no previous conception. It did more than expend 
large sums of money. Officials became corrupt and organized 
themselves for plunder. In the City of New-York, especially, the 
government fell into the hands of a band of thieves, who engaged 
in a series of great and beneficial public works, not for the good 
they might do, but for the opportunity which they would afford to 
rob the public treasury. They erected court-houses and armories ; 
they opened roads, boulevards and parks ; and they organized two 
of the grandest devices for transportation which the genius of man 
has ever conceived : a rapid transit railway for New-York, and a 
great highway between New-York and Brooklyn. The bridge was 
commenced, but the ring was driven into exile by the force of 
public indignation before the rapid transit scheme, since executed 
on a different route by private capital, was undertaken. The col- 
lapse of the ring brought the work on the bridge to a standstill. 

It was a timely event. The patriotic New-Yorker might well 
have exclaimed, just before this great deliverance, in the words of 
the Consul of ancient Rome, in Macaulay's stirring poem : 

" And if they once may win the bridge, 
What hope to save the town?" 

Meanwhile, the elder Roebling had died, leaving behind him 
his estimates and the general plans of the structure, to cost, inde- 
pendent of land damages and interest, about $7,000,000, This 
great work which, if not *' conceived in sin," was '* brought forth in 
iniquity," thus became the object of great suspicion, and of a 



51 

prejudice which has not been removed to this day. I know that to 
many I make a startling announcement, when I state the incontro- 
vertible fact, that no money was ever stolen by the ring from the 
funds of the bridge ; that the whole money raised has been 
honestly expended ; that the estimates for construction have not 
been materially exceeded ; and that the excess of cost over the esti- 
mate is due to purchases of land which were never included in the 
estimates, to interest paid on the City subscription ; to the cost of 
additional height and breadth of the bridge, and the increase in 
strength rendered necessary by a better comprehension of the 
volume of traffic between the two cities. The items covered 
by the original estimate of $7,000,000 have thus been raised to 
$9,000,000, so that $2,000,000 represents the addition to the 
original estimates. 

For this excess, amounting to less than thirty per cent , there 
is actual value in the bridge in dimension and strength, whereby 
its working capacity has been greatly increased. The carriage- 
ways, as originally designed, would have permitted only a single 
line of vehicles in each direction. The speed of the entire pro- 
cession, more than a mile long, would therefore have been limited 
by the rate of the slowest ; and every accident causing stoppage 
to a single cart, would have stopped everything behind it for an 
indefinite period. It is not too much to say that the removal of 
this objection, by widening the carriage-ways, has multiplied mani- 
fold the practical usefulness of the bridge. 

The statement I have made is due to the memory not only of 
John a. Roebling, but also of Henry C. Murphy, that great 
man, who devoted his last years to this enterprise ; and who hav- 
ing, like Moses, led the people through the toilsome way, was per- 
mitted only to look, but not to enter upon the promised land. 

This testimony is due also to the living trustees and to the en- 
gineers who have controlled and directed this large expenditure in 
the public service, the latter, in the conscientious discharge of pro- 
fessional duty ;.and the former, with no other object than the wel- 
fare of the public, and without any other possible reward than the 
good opinion of their fellow citizens. 

I do not make this statement without a full sense of the respon- 
sibility which it involves, and I realize that its accuracy will shortly 
be tested by the report of experts who are now examining the ac- 



52 

counts. But it will be found that I have spoken the words of 
truth and soberness. When the ring absconded, I was asked by 
William C. Havemeyer, then the Mayor of New-York, to become 
a Trustee, in order to investigate the expenditures, and to report 
as to the propriety of going on with the work. This duty was 
performed without fear or favor. The methods by which the ring 
proposed to benefit themselves were clear enough, but its members 
fled before they succeeded in reimbursing themselves for the pre- 
liminary expenses which they had defrayed. With their flight a 
new era commenced, and during the three years when I acted as a 
Trustee, I am sure that no fraud was committed, and that none was 
possible. Since that time the Board has been controlled by Trus- 
tees, some of whom are thorough experts in bridge building, and tlie 
others men of such high chararcter that the suggestion of mal- 
practice is improbable to absurdity. 

The bridge has not only been honestly built, but it may be safely 
asserted that it could not now be duplicated at the same cost. 
Much money might, however, have been saved if the work had not 
been delayed through want of means, and unnecessary obstacles 
interposed by mistaken public officials. Moreover, measured by its 
capacity, and the limitations imposed on its construction by its 
relation to the interests of traffic and navigation, it is the cheapest 
structure ever erected by the genius of man. This will be made 
evident by a single comparison with the Britannia Tubular Bridge 
erected by Stepuenson over the Menai Straits. He adopted the 
tubular principle, because he believed that the suspension prin- 
ciple could not be made practical for railway traffic, although he 
had to deal with spans not greater than 470 feet. He built a struc- 
ture that contained 10,640 tons of iron, and cost 601,000 pounds 
sterling, or about $3,000,000. Fortunately he has left a calculation 
on record as to the possible extension of the tubular girder, show- 
ing that it would reach the limits in which it could bear only its 
own weight (62,000 tons), at 1,570 feet. Now, for a span of 1,595^ 
feet, the Brooklyn Bridge contains but 6,740 tons of material, and 
will sustain seven times its own weight. Its cost is $9,000,000, 
whereas a tubular bridge for the same span would contain ten 
times the weight of metal, and, though costing twice as much 
money, would be without the ability to do any useful work. 

RoEBLiNG, therefore, solved the problem which had defied 



53 

Stevexson ; and upon his design has been built a successful struc- 
ture at half the cost of a tubular bridge, that would have fallen 
when loaded in actual use. It is impossible to furnish any more 
striking proof of the genius which originated, and of the economy 
which constructed this triumph of American engineering. 

We have thus a monument to the public spirit of the two cities, 
created by an expenditure as honest and as economical as the man- 
agement which gave us the Erie Canal, the Croton Aqueduct and 
the Central Park. Otherwise it would have been a monument to 
the eternal infamy of the trustees and of the engineers under 
whose supervision it has been erected, and this brings rae to the 
final consideration which I feel constrained to offer on this point. 

During all these years of trial and false report a great soul lay 
in the shadow of death, praying only to stay long enough for the 
completion of the work to which he had devoted his life. I say a 
great soul, for in the spring-time of youth, with friends and fortune 
at his command, he gave himself to his country, and for her sake 
braved death on many a well-fought battlefield. When restored 
to civil life his health was sacrificed to the duties which had 
devolved upon him as the inheritor of his father's fame and the 
executor of his father's plans. Living only for honor, and freed 
from the temptations of narrow means, how is it conceivable that 
such a man — whose approval was necessary to every expenditure — 
should, by conniving with jobbers, throw away more than the life 
which was dear to him that he might fulfil his destiny, and leave to 
his children the heritage of a good name and the gbry of a grand 
achievement ? Well may this suffering hero quote the words of 
Hyperion : " Oh, I have looked with wonder upon those, who, in 
sorrow and privation, and bodily discomfort and sickness, which is 
the shadow of death, have worked right on to the accomplishment 
of their great purposes ; toiling much, enduring much, fulfiling 
much ; and then, with shattered nerves, and sinews all unstrung, 
have laid themselves down in the grave and slept the sleep of 
death, and the world talks of them while they sleep ! And as in 
the sun's eclipse we can behold the great stars shining in the 
heavens, so in this life-eclipse have these men beheld the lights of 
the great eternity, burning solemnly and forever I" 

And now what is to be the outcome of this great expenditure 
upon the highway which unites the two cities, for which Dr. 



64 

Storrs and I have the honor to speak to-day ? That Brooklyn 
will gain in numbers and in wealth with accelerated speed is a 
foregone conclusion. Whether this gain shall in any wise be at the 
expense of New-York is a matter in regard to which the great 
metropolis does not concern herself. Her citizens are content with 
the knowledge that she exists and grows with the growth of the 
whole country, of whose progress and prosperity she is but the 
exponent and the index. Will the Bridge lead, as has been 
forcibly suggested, and in some quarters hopefully anticipated, to 
the further union of the two cities under one name and one gov- 
ernment ? This suggestion is in part sentimental and in part prac- 
tical. So far as the union in name is concerned it is scarcely worth 
consideration, for in any comparison which our national or local 
pride may institute between this metropolis and the other great 
cities of the world, its environment, whether in Long Island, Staten 
Island or New-Jersey, will always be included. In considering the 
population of London, no one ever separates the city proper from 
the surrounding parts. They are properly regarded as one homo- 
genous aggregation of human beings. 

It is only when we come to consider the problem of governing 
great masses that the serious elements of the question present 
themselves, and must be determined before a satisfactory answer 
can be given. The tendency of modern civilization is towards the 
concentration of population in dense masses. This is due to the 
higher and more diversified life, which can be secured by associ- 
ation and co-operation on a large scale, affording not mei'ely greater 
comfort and often luxury, but actually distributing the fruits of 
labor on a more equitable basis than is possible in sparsely settled 
regions and among feeble communities. The great improvements 
of our day in labor-saving machinery, and its application to agri- 
culture, enabled the nation to be fed with a less percentage of its 
total force thus applied, and leave a larger margin of population 
free to engage in such other pursuits as are best carried on in large 
cities. 

The disclosures of the last census prove the truth of this state- 
ment. At the first census in 1790 the population resident in cities 
was 3.3 per cent, of the total population. This percentage slowly 
o-ained at eaeh successive census, until in 1840 it had reached 8.5 
per cent. In fifty years it had thus gained a little over five per 



55 



cent. But in 1850 it rose to 12.5 per cent., in 1860 it was 16.1 per 
cent., in 1870 it was 20.9 per cent., having in this one decade gained 
as much as in the first fifty years of our political existence. In 
1880 the population resident in cities was 22.5 per cent, of the 
whole population. 

With this rapid growth of urban population have grown the 
contemporaneous complaints of corrupt administration and bad 
municipal government. The outcry may be said to be universal, 
for it comes from both sides of the Atlantic ; and the complaints 
appear to be in direct proportion to the size of cities. It is obvious, 
. therefore, that the knowledge of the art of local government has 
not kept pace with the growth of population. I am here by your 
favor to speak for the City of New-York, and I should be the last 
person to throw any discredit on its fair fame ; but I think I only 
give voice to the general feeling when I say that the citizens of 
New- York are satisfied neither with the structure of its govern- 
ment nor with its actual administration, even when it is in the 
hands of intelligent and honest officials. Dissatisfied as we are, no 
man has been able to devise a system which commends itself to 'the 
general approval, and it may be asserted that the remedy is not to 
be found in devices for any special machinery of government. 
Experiments without number have been tried, and suggestions in 
infinite variety have been offered, but to-day no man can say that 
we have approached any nearer to the idea of good government, 
which is demanded by the intelligence and the wants of the com- 
munity. 

If, therefore. New- York has not yet learned to govern itself, how 
can it be expected to be better governed by adding half a million to 
its population, and a great territory to its area, unless it be with the 
idea that a "little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Is Brooklyn 
that leaven ? If not, and if possibly " the salt has lost its savor, 
wherewith shall it be salted ? " Brooklyn is now struggling with 
this problem, it remains to be seen with what success ; but mean- 
while it is idle to consider the idea of getting rid of our common 
evils by adding them together. 

Besides it is a fundamental axiom in politics, approved by the 
experience of older countries as well as of our own, that the 
sources of power should never be far removed from those who are 
to feel its exercise. It is the violation of this principle which pro- 



56 

duces chronic revolution in France, and makes the British rule so 
obnoxious to the Irish people. This evil is happily avoided when 
a natural boundary circumscribes administration within narrow 
limits. While, therefore, we rejoice together at the new bond be- 
tween New- York and Brooklyn, we ought to rejoice the more that 
It destroys none of the conditions which permit each city to govern 
Itself, but rather urges them to a generous rivalry in perfecting 
each its own government, recognizing the truth, that there is no 
true liberty without law, and that eternal vigilance, which is the 
only safeguard of liberty, can best be exercised within limited 
areas. 

It would be a most fortunate conclusion, if the completion of 
this bridge should arouse public attention to the absolute necessity 
of good municipal government, and recall the only principle upon 
which it can ever be successfully founded. There is reason to 
hope that this result will follow, because tlie erection of this struc- 
ture shows how a problem, analagous to that with which confronts 
us in regard to the city government, has been met and solved in 
the domain of physical science. 

The men who controlled this enterprise at the outset were not 
all of the best type ; some of them, as we have seen, were public 
jobbers. But they knew that they could not build a bridge, 
although they had no doubt of their ability to govern a city. 
They thereupon proceeded to organize the knowledge which ex- 
isted as to the construction of bridges ; and they held the organiza- 
tion thus created responsible for results. Now, we know that it 
is at least as diflScult to govern a city as to build a bridge, and yet, 
as citizens, we have deliberately allowed the ignorance of the com- 
munity to be organized for its government, and we then complain 
that it is a failure. Until we imitate the example of the ring, and 
organize the intelligence of the community for its government, our 
complaint is childish aud unreasonable. But we shall be told that 
there is no analogy between building a bridge and governing 
a city. Let us examine this objection. A city is made 
up of infinite interests. They vary from hour to hour, and 
conflict is the law of their being. Many of the elements of social 
life are what mathematicians term " variables of the independent 
order." The problem is, to reconcile these conflicting interests and 
variable elements into one organization which shall work without 



57 

jar, and allow each citizen to pursue his calling, if it be an honest 
one, in peace and quiet. 

Now, turn to the bridge. It looks like a motionless mass of 
masonry and metal ; but, as a matter of fact, it is instinct with 
motion. There is not a particle of matter in it which is at rest 
even for the minutest portion of lime. It is an aggregation of un- 
stable elements, changing with every change in the temperature, 
and every movement of the heavenly bodies. The problem was, 
out of these unstable elements, to produce absolute stability; 
and it was this problem which the engineers, the organized intelli- 
gence, had to solve, or confess to inglorious failure. The problem 
has been solved. In the first construction of suspension bridges it 
was attempted to check, repress and overcome their motion, and 
failure resulted. It was then seen that motion is the law of exist- 
ence for suspension bridges, and pi ©vision was made for its free 
play. Then they became a success. The bridge before us elon- 
gates and contracts between the extremes of temperature from 14 
to 16 inches ; the vertical rise and fall in the centre of the main 
span ranges between two feet three inches and two feet 
nine inches ; and before the suspenders were attached to the 
cable it actually revolved on its own axis through an arc of thirty 
degrees when exposed to the sun shining upon it on one side. You 
do not perceive this motion, and you would know nothing about it 
unless you watched the guages which record its movement. 

Now, if our political system were guided by organized intelli- 
gence, it would not seek to repress the free play of human interests 
and emotions, of human hopes and fears, but would make provision 
for their development and exercise in accordance with the higher 
law of liberty and morality. A large portion of our vices and 
crimes are created either by law or its mal-administration. These 
laws exist because organized ignorance, like a highwayman with a 
club, is permitted to stand in the way of wise legislation and 
honest administration, and to demand satisfaction from the spoils 
of office and the profits of contracts. Of this state of affairs we 
complain, and on great occasions the community arises in its wrath, 
and visits summary punishment on the offenders of the hour, and 
then relapses into chronic grumbling until grievances sufficiently 
accumulate to stir it again to action. 

What is the remedy for this state of affairs ? Shall there be no 



68 

more political parties, and shall we shatter the political machinery 
which, bad as it is, is far better than no machinery at all ? Shall 
we embrace nihilism as our creed because we have practical com- 
munism forced upon us as the consequence of jobbery and the 
imposition of unjust taxes ? 

No, let us rather learn the lesson of the bridge. Instead of at- 
tempting to restrict suffrage let us try to educate the voters ; 
instead of disbanding parties, let each citizen within the party 
always vote, but never for a man who is unfit to hold office. Thus 
parties, as well as voters, will be organized on the basis of intelli- 
gence. 

But what man is fit to hold office ? Only he who regards polit- 
ical office as a public trust, and not as a private perquisite to be 
used for the pecuniary advantage of himself or his family, or even 
his party. Is there intelligence enough in these cities, if thus 
organized within the parties, to produce the result which we desire? 
Why, the overthrow of the Tweed ring was conclusive evidence 
of the preponderance of public virtue in the City of New- York. 
In no other country in the world, and in no other political sy.stera 
than one which provides for, and secures universal suffrage, would 
such a sudden and peaceful revolution have been possible. The 
demonstration of this fact was richly worth the twenty-five or 
thirty millions of dollars which the thieves liad stolen. Thereafter, 
and thenceforth, there could be no doubt whether our city popula- 
tion, heterogenous as it is, contains within itself sufficient virtue 
for its own preservation. Let it never be forgotten that the 
remedy is complete ; that it is ever present ; that no man ought to 
be deprived of the opportunity of its exercise ; and that, if it be 
exercised, the will of the community can never be paralyzed. Our 
safety and our success rest on the ballot in the hands of freemen at 
the polls, deliberately deposited, never for an unworthy man, but 
always with a profound sense of the responsibility which should 
govern every citizen in the exercise of this fundamental right. 

If the lesson of the bridge, which I have thus sought to enforce, 
shall revive the confidence of the people in their own power, and 
induce them to use it practically for the election to office of good 
men, clothed, as were the engineers, with sufficient authority, and 
held, as they were, to cori-esponding responsibility for results, then 
indeed will its completion be a public blessing, worthy of the new 



r)9 

era of industrial development in which it is our fortunate lot to 
live. 

Great indeed has been our national progress. Perhaps we, who 
belong to a commercial community, do not fully realize its significance 
and promise. We buy and sell stocks without stopping to think 
that they represent the most astonishing achievements of enterprise 
and skill in the magical extension of our vast railway system ; we 
speculate in wheat, without reflecting on the stupendous fact that 
the plains of Dakota and California are feeding hungry mouths in 
Europe ; we hear that the Treasury has made a call for bonds, and 
forget that the rapid extinction of our national debt is a proof of 
our prosperity and patriotism, as wonderful to the world as was 
the power we exhibited in the struggle which left that apparently 
crushing burden upon us. If, then, we deal successfully with the 
evils which threaten our political life, who can venture to predict 
the limits of our future wealth and glory — wealth that shall enrich 
all ; glory that shall be no selfish heritage, but the blessing of man- 
kind. Beyond all legends of Oriental treasure, beyond all dreams 
of the golden age, will be the splendor, and majesty, and happiness 
of the free people dwelling upon this fair domain, when fulfiling 
the promise of the ages and the hopes of humanity, they shall have 
learned how to make equitable distribution among themselves of the 
fruits of their common labor. Then, indeed, will be realized by a 
waiting world the youthful vision of our own Bryant ; 

" Here the free spirit of mankind at length, 
Throws its last fetters off ; and who shall place 
A limit to the giant's untamed strength, 
Or curb its swiftness in the forward race I 
Far, like the comet's way through infinite space, 
Stretches the long untraveled path of light 
Into the depths of ages ; we may trace 
Distant, the brightening glory of its flight, 
'Till the receding rays are lost to human sight." 

At the ocean gateway of such a nation well may stand the stately 
figure of " Liberty Enlightening the World ;" and, in hope and 
faith, as well as gratitude, we write upon the towers of our beau- 
tiful bridge, to be illuminated by her electric ray, the words of 
exaltation, Firiis coroaat opus. 



60 

LETTER OF MR. HEWITT TO GOVERNOR ODELL. 

New- York, January 27, 1902, 
To the Governor : 

Sib : I feel warranted in addressing this letter to you, because, 
in your public utterances and in the discharge of your high func- 
tions, you have demonstrated your determination to protect the 
public interest even at the expense of partisan considerations. In 
other words, you have shown an open mind when criticisms have 
been made as to your recommendations to the Legislature, and you 
have not hesitated to change your views when it became apparent 
that the public welfare would be promoted by a different course of 
actiou. 

In your Message to the Legislature you have made recommenda- 
tions in regard to the management of the Lunatic Asylums and of 
the State Charities generally which, if carried into effect, will pro- 
duce a revolution in their administration. Apparently you have 
been moved to these recommendations because you think from 
personal investigation that a concentration of management will 
result in economy to the taxpayers. Apparently you have over- 
looked other considerations of a humanitarian nature which are far 
more important than economy in the public expenditure, however 
desirable. 

So far as the bill now pending in the Legislature, formulated in 
accordance with your recommendations as to the Lunatic Asylums 
is concerned, the co-operation of the Commissions composed of 
private citizens, who serve without compensation, is terminated, 
and the whole responsibility for the management of these institu- 
tions will rest upon the Lunacy Commission, who will have the 
appointment of the Superintendent of each asylum and the control 
of the expenditures. 

As a mere matter of machinery, there is undoubtedly something 
to be said in favor of this system, but on investigation it will be 
found to violate the fundamental principles which should govern 
all public expenditures, of having a check upon the outlays by 
making the consent of more than one authority essential. 

Tnere is another grave defect in the transfer of the appointment 
of the steward from the Superintendent to the Lunacy Commission. 
Any one who is familiar with the operations of one of the great 



61 

asylums will readily understand that the steward cannot be made 
independent of the trained physician who is in charge of the insti- 
tution without very great confusion in the management, and in the 
dietary regulations which are essential to the well-being ol the 
patients. Moreover the superintendent, who is a trained alienist, 
and is, therefore, not supposed to be an accountant, is charged 
with the duties of the treasurer, and must audit and pay every 
account. To a business man there is a manifest incompatibility 
between these two functions, and it is a great waste of the time 
and knowledge of the superintendent to impair his efficiency by 
compelling him to be an accountant. The relative value of these 
two functions is easily determined by the salaries which are paid 
for these services respectively. The superintendent would com- 
mand at least five times as much as an accountant, and yet, under 
the proposed law, he must devote to the work of the latter the 
time which is absolutely needed for the work of the former. No 
business man would make such a mistake. 

The chief criticism, however, upon the proposed change is in the 
abolition of the Commission of Laymen, who, heretofore, have had 
the management of the asylums, subject, of course, to the control 
of the Lunatic Commission. This subject has been discussed 
judicially by Judge Henry E. Rowland and Professor George S. 
C^NFiELD in communications which they have made to the daily 
papers, and which, doubtless, have been addressed to you. I 
forbear to take up your time in going over the ground which they 
have covered far better than I can do, but I venture to enclose 
their statements in order that I may be sure that they have reached 
your eye. 

I can add nothing to the force of their arguments, which, to my 
mind, are irresistible and incontrovertible. What I desire to do is 
to state my own experience in reference to the administration of 
the asylums in this City before they became State institutions. I 
was Mayor of this City in 1887 and 1888. It was my duty to 
investigate the municipal charities. I began with the lunatic 
asylums, which I found to be in a most deplorable condition. 
The superintendent was a man of the highest position in his pro- 
fession, Dr. Carlos McDonald. For years he had in vain called the 
attention of the public authorities to the deficiencies of the institu- 
tion over which he presided. He could get no hearing because there 



62 

were no citizens associated with him in the management who could 
compel public attention. It was my duty, as well as my privilege, 
to remedy many of these defects, but the chief service which I 
was able to render was in securing the co-operation of a consider- 
able number of devoted and self-sacrificing citizens to act as an 
advisory board and to see that the required reforms were carried 
into e£fect. 

The same system was introduced into the other municipal chari- 
ties. The change produced in two years was marvelous. There is 
no time here to enter into details, but from being a disgrace to the 
City of New-York, the charities became a just subject of pride. 
The improvement was entirely due to the co-operation of the 
various men and women who were willing to give their time with- 
out compensation to the relief of suffering humanity. Out of this 
grew the State Board of Charities and the State Charities Aid 
Association. In the whole history of the State of New-York I do 
not think that there is any one feature more to its credit than the 
introduction of these agencies into the administration of the public 
charities of the State. 

The principle was supposed to be imbedded in the amendments 
to the new Constitution, and I do not think it entered into the 
mind of any student in the field of charity that the corporation of 
private citizens would ever be dispensed with on any plea, especi- 
ally that of economy, when it was notorious that the expenditures 
of the State for charities had always been too little rather than too 
much. 

There is another consideration to which I feel justified in calling 
your attention. Modern civilization, with all its wonderful 
triumphs, has developed one peculiarity which fills the lover of 
his kind with alarm. As population becomes more dense the 
poverty line, as it is called, rises so that in older countries the per 
centage of those who are unable to earn a living is a steadily in- 
creasing quantity. In this country we have not suffered much as 
yet from this menace, but the same causes which have produced 
the cancerous growth of poverty in older countries are at work 
here and will inevitably produce the same results unless they are 
counteracted by individual effort. The State cannot by any pos- 
sibility prevent the advance of poverty which in the end under- 
mines the security of property, and ultimately compels a change in 



63 

the form of government from freedom to despotism. The only 
antidote is to be found in the conscience of the individual, which 
makes him see that he is, in one sense, his brother's keeper, and 
that he owes a duty to society which can only be discharged by 
sympathy with the poor and persistent effort to remove the causes 
of poverty. 

I am sure that this statement is not exaggerated, and hence I am 
filled with alarm when it is proposed, on behalf of the State, to di- 
vorce itself from this individual effort, on which rests the best 
hopes of humanity. 

The State is compelled to supervise the public charities, but so 
far as possible this supervision should be exercised by men and 
women who feel that they have a duty and a mission in that 
direction. 

I hope I do not overstep the bounds of propriety, therefore, 
when I ask you to review your decision in reference to the pro- 
posed legislation, and so far from approving or aiding the destruc- 
tion of the present system, that you will give the weight of your 
decision and of your personal influence in favor of encouraging 
private citizens to engage in the management of the public charities 
of the State. 

The amendments which have been suggested to the proposed 
bill do not correct any of the evils to which I have referred, and in 
some respects only make more clear the fact that the whole system 
will be reduced to a system of patronage, and, therefore, of party 
politics as soon as your restraining hand is removed, unless your 
successor shall be a man of your type, more zealous for the public 
welfare than the success of his party. 

Yours respectfully, 

Abbam S. Hewitt. 



LBTTEU OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN TENDERING A BAN- 
QUET TO MB. HEWITT. 

Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, 

Mayor of the City of New- York : 
Dear Sir: We, the undersigned, your fellow citizens, irrespec- 
tive of party, appreciate the personal sacrifice you made two years 
ago in allowing your name to be used for the ofiice of Mayor ; the 



64 

fearless and impartial manner in which you have administered its 
affairs and the broad and comprehensive views you entertain and 
urge for the improvement of the moral condition of the City and 
the development of its commercial and industrial interests. Such 
public services appear to us to call for some appropriate acknow- 
ledgment on the part of the people. 

To this end, therefore, it is the earnest request that you shall 
name a day when it will be most convenient for you to meet your 
fellow citizens at a banquet at Delmonico's, that they may express 
personally and in fitting terms their sense of the obligations which 
the City of New-York owes to you. 

Very truly yours, 

(Here follow one hundred and ninety names.) 



reply of mr, hewitt declining the banquet. 

Mayor's Office, 

New- York, December 17, 1888. 

Gentlemen : I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your 
invitation to meet ray fellow citizens at a banquet proposed to be 
given in my honor at the close of my term as Mayor of the City of 
New- York. The names appended to the invitation may be regarded 
as fairly representative of the intelligence and public spirit of the 
City, irrespective of differences in politics and religion. The favor- 
able opinion thus expressed by gentlemen whose authority cannot 
be impeached is very gratifying at this time, because it affords un- 
answerable proof that character entrenched in the public confidence 
cannot be injured by the envy, hatred and malice of "chartered 
libertines." 

But I cannot overcome my reluctance to a public demonstration 
at which I must necessarily be present and become the object of 
personal compliment, especially as it will not in any way affect the 
judgment of the people in regard to my motives in accepting the 
nomination for Mayor, or the manner in which I have performed 
the duties of that great oflice. It is enough for me to know that 
you appreciate the sacrifices which in truth I have made, and I am 
fully rewarded by your recognition of the fact that I have striven 



66 

to do my duty without fear or favor, according to the full measure 
of my strength and the obligations of my oath of office. More- 
over, it becomes a defeated candidate to be modest in his claims 
for public approbation. But I know that the passing judgment of 
the day is not the sober verdict of history, and I am well content 
to leave my record to the impartial test of time and truth. 

In declining the invitation, therefore, with which you have hon- 
ored me, let me assure you, that in one respect,at least, no mistake 
has occurred. You have made it pleasant for me to dwell among 
my fellow citizens during the remaining years of my life, and you 
have placed my children under an obligation, which I trust they 
will be able to repay, in part, by continuing for another generation 
an unselfish and honest effort for the public good. 

With a heart full of gratitude for an honor which, so far as I 
remember, is without a precedent in the municipal history of this 
City, I am, with great respect, 

Your friend and fellow citizen, 

Abram S. Hewitt. 

To Messrs. (Here follow the names of all the signers to the 
letter.) 



14 




^5rai^«^.4^ 



